Manash (Subhaditya Edusoft): SUBHADITYA NEWS THIS WEEK(SCIENCE, POLITICAL,SPORTS , MOVIE & BOOK NEWS THIS WEEK)

1) Astronomers detect evidence of universe's 'background hum':

The breakthrough was hailed as a major milestone that opens a new window into the universe.

Astronomers across the world announced on Thursday that they have found the first evidence of a long-theorised form of gravitational waves that create a "background hum" rumbling throughout the universe. The breakthrough -- made by hundreds of scientists using radio telescopes in North America, Europe, China, India and Australia after years of work -- was hailed as a major milestone that opens a new window into the universe.

First predicted by Albert Einstein more than a century ago, gravitational waves are ripples in the fabric of the universe that travel through everything at the speed of light almost entirely unimpeded.

Their existence was not confirmed until 2015, when the US and Italian observatories detected the first gravitational waves created by two black holes colliding.

These "high-frequency" waves were the result of a single violent event that sends a strong, short burst rippling towards Earth.But for decades scientists have been searching for low-frequency gravitational waves, thought to be constantly rolling through space like background noise. Joining forces under the banner of the International Pulsar Timing Array consortium, scientists working at gravitational wave detectors on several continents revealed on Thursday they have finally found strong evidence of these background waves.

"We now know that the universe is awash with gravitational waves," Michael Keith of the European Pulsar Timing Array told AFP.

Using dead stars as clocks -

As gravitational waves travel through space, they very subtly squeeze and stretch everything they pass through.To find evidence of this squeezing and stretching at low frequencies, astronomers looked at pulsars, the dead cores of stars that exploded in a supernova.Some spin hundreds of times a second, flashing beams of radio waves at extremely regular intervals, like cosmic lighthouses.This means they can act as "a very, very precise clock," Keith said. For the new research, radio telescopes around the world were aimed at a total of 115 pulsars throughout the Milky Way.

Scientists then measured the incredibly small differences in the timing of the pulses, searching for telltale signs of gravitational waves.French astrophysicist Antoine Petiteau said they were able to "detect changes of less than one millionth of a second across more than 20 years".Maura McLaughlin of the US Pulsar Search Collaboratory programme said they were "awestruck" after first seeing evidence of the waves in 2020.It was "really a magical moment," she told a press conference.

The early evidence was consistent with Einstein's theory of relativity and science's current understanding of the universe, the scientists said.But they emphasised they have not yet definitively "detected" the waves, because they have not reached the gold-standard five sigma level of certainty. Five sigma indicates that there is a one-in-a-million chance of something being a statistical fluke. "We're frustratingly just shy of the mark," Keith said, adding that there was a 99-percent probability that the evidence points to gravitational waves.

Each country or group in the consortium published their research separately in a range of journals.Steve Taylor, chair of North America's NANOGrav gravitational wave observatory, said that once all the data was combined, the five sigma mark could be reached in a year or two.

The sounds are made by objects moving and colliding in space Daniëlle Futselaarartsource.nlMaxPlanck-Institut für Radioastronomie

'Like sitting in a noisy restaurant' -

The leading theory is that the waves are coming from pairs of supermassive black holes sitting at the centre of galaxies that are slowly merging.

Unlike those that caused the previously detected gravitational waves, these black holes are almost unimaginably huge -- sometimes billions of times bigger than the Sun.

Daniel Reardon, a member of Australia's Parkes Pulsar Timing Array, told AFP that -- if confirmed -- the waves would be "the sum of all of the supermassive black hole binary systems whirling around each other at the cores of galaxies everywhere in the universe".

Keith said the "background hum of all these black holes" was "like sitting in a noisy restaurant and hearing all these people talking".

Another theory is that the gravitational waves could be from the rapid expansion that came within a second after the Big Bang, a period called cosmic inflation that is hidden from the view of scientists.

Keith said the galaxies between Earth and the Big Bang were likely "drowning out" such waves.

But in the future, low-frequency gravitational waves could reveal more about this early expansion and possibly shed light on the mystery of dark matter, the scientists said.It could also help them understand more about how black holes and galaxies form and evolve.

2) New analysis of tooth minerals confirms megalodon shark was warm-blooded :

Megalodons, which went extinct 3.6 million years ago, are believed to have grown to lengths of 50 feet

The largest marine predator that ever lived was no cold-blooded killer. A new analysis by environmental scientists from UCLA, UC Merced and William Paterson University sheds light on the warm-blooded animal's ability to regulate its body temperature—and might help explain why it went extinct.

After analyzing isotopes in the tooth enamel of the ancient shark, which went extinct about 3.6 million years ago, the scientists concluded the megalodon could maintain a body temperature that was about 13°F (about 7°C) warmer than the surrounding water.

That temperature difference is greater than those that have been determined for other sharks that lived alongside the megalodon and is large enough to categorize megalodons as warm-blooded.

The paper, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that the amount of energy the megalodon used to stay warm contributed to its extinction. And it has implications for understanding current and future environmental changes.

"Studying the driving factors behind the extinction of a highly successful predatory shark like megalodon can provide insight into the vulnerability of large marine predators in modern ocean ecosystems experiencing the effects of ongoing climate change," said lead researcher Robert Eagle, a UCLA assistant professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences and member of the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability.

Megalodons, which are believed to have reached lengths up to 50 feet, belonged to a group of sharks called mackerel sharks—members of that group today include the great white and thresher shark. While most fish are cold-blooded, with body temperatures that are the same as the surrounding water, mackerel sharks keep the temperature of all or parts of their bodies somewhat warmer than the water around them, qualities called mesothermy and regional endothermy, respectively.

Sharks store heat generated by their muscles, making them different from fully warm-blooded or endothermic animals like mammals. In mammals, a region of the brain called the hypothalamus regulates body temperature.

Various lines of evidence have hinted that megalodon might have been mesothermic. But without data from the soft tissues that drive body temperature in modern sharks, it has been difficult to determine if or to what extent megalodon was endothermic.

In the new study, the scientists looked for answers in the megalodon's most abundant fossil remains: its teeth. A main component of teeth is a mineral called apatite, which contains atoms of carbon and oxygen. Like all atoms, carbon and oxygen can come in "light" or "heavy" forms known as isotopes, and the amount of light or heavy isotopes that make up apatite as it forms can depend on a range of environmental factors. So the isotopic composition of fossil teeth can reveal insights about where an animal lived and the types of foods it ate, and—for marine vertebrates—information like the chemistry of the seawater where the animal lived and the animal's body temperature.

"You can think of the isotopes preserved in the minerals that make up teeth as a kind of thermometer, but one whose reading can be preserved for millions of years," said Randy Flores, a UCLA doctoral student and fellow of the Center for Diverse Leadership in Science, who worked on the study. "Because teeth form in the tissue of an animal when it's alive, we can measure the isotopic composition of fossil teeth in order to estimate the temperature at which they formed and that tells us the approximate body temperature of the animal in life."

An upper tooth from a megalodon (right) dwarfs that of a white shark

Because most ancient and modern sharks are unable to maintain body temperatures significantly higher than the temperature of surrounding seawater, the isotopes in their teeth reflect temperatures that deviate little from the temperature of the ocean. In warm-blooded animals, however, the isotopes in their teeth record the effect of body heat produced by the animal, which is why the teeth indicate temperatures that are warmer than the surrounding seawater.The researchers hypothesized that any difference between the isotope values of the megalodon and those of other sharks that lived at the same time would indicate the degree to which the megalodon could warm its own body.

The researchers collected teeth from the megalodon and other shark contemporaries from five locations around the world, and analyzed them using mass spectrometers at UCLA and UC Merced. Using statistical modeling to estimate sea water temperatures at each site where teeth were collected, the scientists found that megalodons' teeth consistently yielded average temperatures that indicated it had an impressive ability to regulate body temperature.

Its warmer body allowed megalodon to move faster, tolerate colder water and spread out around the world. But it was that evolutionary advantage that might have contributed to its downfall, the researchers wrote.

The megalodon lived during the Pliocene Epoch, which began 5.33 million years ago and ended 2.58 million years ago, and global cooling during that period caused sea level and ecological changes that the megalodon did not survive.

"Maintaining an energy level that would allow for megalodon's elevated body temperature would require a voracious appetite that may not have been sustainable in a time of changing marine ecosystem balances when it may have even had to compete against newcomers such as the great white shark," Flores said.

Project co-leader Aradhna Tripati, a UCLA professor of Earth, planetary and space sciences and a member of the Institute of Environment and Sustainability, said the scientists now plan to apply the same approach to studying other species."Having established endothermy in megalodon, the question arises of how frequently it is found in apex marine predators throughout geologic history," she said.

3) Humans' evolutionary relatives butchered one another 1.45 million years ago by Smithsonian:

Researchers from the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History have identified the oldest decisive evidence of humans' close evolutionary relatives butchering and likely eating one another. n a new study published June 26, in Scientific Reports, National Museum of Natural History paleoanthropologist Briana Pobiner and her co-authors describe nine cut marks on a 1.45 million-year-old left shin bone from a relative of Homo sapiens found in northern Kenya. Analysis of 3D models of the fossil's surface revealed that the cut marks were dead ringers for the damage inflicted by stone tools. This is the oldest instance of this behavior known with a high degree of confidence and specificity.

"The information we have tells us that hominins were likely eating other hominins at least 1.45 million years ago," Pobiner said. "There are numerous other examples of species from the human evolutionary tree consuming each other for nutrition, but this fossil suggests that our species' relatives were eating each other to survive further into the past than we recognized."

Pobiner first encountered the fossilized tibia, or shin bone, in the collections of the National Museums of Kenya's Nairobi National Museum while looking for clues about which prehistoric predators might have been hunting and eating humans' ancient relatives. With a handheld magnifying lens, Pobiner pored over the tibia looking for bite marks from extinct beasts when she instead noticed what immediately looked to her like evidence of butchery.

View of the hominin tibia and magnified area that shows cut marks. Scale = 4 cm.

To figure out if what she was seeing on the surface of this fossil were indeed cut marks, Pobiner sent molds of the cuts—made with the same material dentists use to create impressions of teeth—to co-author Michael Pante of Colorado State University. She provided Pante with no details about what he was being sent, simply asking him to analyze the marks on the molds and tell her what made them. Pante created 3D scans of the molds and compared the shape of the marks to a database of 898 individual tooth, butchery and trample marks created through controlled experiments.

The analysis positively identified nine of the 11 marks as clear matches for the type of damage inflicted by stone tools. The other two marks were likely bite marks from a big cat, with a lion being the closest match. According to Pobiner, the bite marks could have come from one of the three different types of saber-tooth cats prowling the landscape at the time the owner of this shin bone was alive. By themselves, the cut marks do not prove that the human relative who inflicted them also made a meal out of the leg, but Pobiner said this seems to be the most likely scenario. She explained that the cut marks are located where a calf muscle would have attached to the bone—a good place to cut if the goal is to remove a chunk of flesh. The cut marks are also all oriented the same way, such that a hand wielding a stone tool could have made them all in succession without changing grip or adjusting the angle of attack.

"These cut marks look very similar to what I've seen on animal fossils that were being processed for consumption," Pobiner said. "It seems most likely that the meat from this leg was eaten and that it was eaten for nutrition as opposed to for a ritual."

While this case may appear to be cannibalism to a casual observer, Pobiner said there is not enough evidence to make that determination because cannibalism requires that the eater and the eaten hail from the same species.

The fossil shin bone was initially identified as Australopithecus boisei and then in 1990 as Homo erectus, but today, experts agree that there is not enough information to assign the specimen to a particular species of hominin. The use of stone tools also does not narrow down which species might have been doing the cutting. Recent research from Rick Potts, the National Museum of Natural History's Peter Buck Chair of Human Origins, further called into question the once-common assumption that only one genus, Homo, made and used stone tools.

Nine marks identified as cut marks (mark numbers 1–4 and 7–11) and two identified as tooth marks (mark numbers 5 and 6) based on comparison with 898 known bone surface modifications

So, this fossil could be a trace of prehistoric cannibalism, but it is also possible this was a case of one species chowing down on its evolutionary cousin.

None of the stone-tool cut marks overlap with the two bite marks, which makes it hard to infer anything about the order of events that took place. For instance, a big cat may have scavenged the remains after hominins removed most of the meat from the leg bone. It is equally possible that a big cat killed an unlucky hominin and then was chased off or scurried away before opportunistic hominins took over the kill. One other fossil—a skull first found in South Africa in 1976—has previously sparked debate about the earliest known case of human relatives butchering each other. Estimates for the age of this skull range from 1.5 to 2.6 million years old.

Apart from its uncertain age, two studies that have examined the fossil (the first published in 2000 and the latter in 2018) disagree about the origin of marks just below the skull's right cheek bone. One contends the marks resulted from stone tools wielded by hominin relatives and the other asserts that they were formed through contact with sharp-edged stone blocks found lying against the skull. Further, even if ancient hominins produced the marks, it is not clear whether they were butchering each other for food, given the lack of large muscle groups on the skull.

To resolve the issue of whether the fossil tibia she and her colleagues studied is indeed the oldest cut-marked hominin fossil, Pobiner said she would love to reexamine the skull from South Africa, which is claimed to have cut marks using the same techniques observed in the present study.She also said this new shocking finding is proof of the value of museum collections."You can make some pretty amazing discoveries by going back into museum collections and taking a second look at fossils," Pobiner said. "Not everyone sees everything the first time around. It takes a community of scientists coming in with different questions and techniques to keep expanding our knowledge of the world."

4) Researchers uncover new CRISPR-like system in animals that can edit the human genome by Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard:

A Cryo-EM map of a Fanzor protein (gray, yellow, light blue, and pink) in complex with ωRNA (purple) and its target DNA (red). Non-target DNA strand in blue.

A team of researchers led by Feng Zhang at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT has uncovered the first programmable RNA-guided system in eukaryotes—organisms that include fungi, plants, and animals.

In a study published in Nature, the team describes how the system is based on a protein called Fanzor. They showed that Fanzor proteins use RNA as a guide to target DNA precisely, and that Fanzors can be reprogrammed to edit the genome of human cells. The compact Fanzor systems have the potential to be more easily delivered to cells and tissues as therapeutics than CRISPR/Cas systems, and further refinements to improve their targeting efficiency could make them a valuable new technology for human genome editing.

CRISPR/Cas was first discovered in prokaryotes (bacteria and other single-cell organisms that lack nuclei) and scientists including Zhang's lab have long wondered whether similar systems exist in eukaryotes. The new study demonstrates that RNA-guided DNA-cutting mechanisms are present across all kingdoms of life. "CRISPR-based systems are widely used and powerful because they can be easily reprogrammed to target different sites in the genome," said Zhang, senior author on the study and a core institute member at the Broad, an investigator at MIT's McGovern Institute, the James and Patricia Poitras Professor of Neuroscience at MIT, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. "This new system is another way to make precise changes in human cells, complementing the genome editing tools we already have."

McGovern Investigator Feng Zhang in his lab.

Searching the domains of life

A major aim of the Zhang lab is to develop genetic medicines using systems that can modulate human cells by targeting specific genes and processes. "A number of years ago, we started to ask, 'What is there beyond CRISPR, and are there other RNA-programmable systems out there in nature?'" said Zhang.

Two years ago, Zhang lab members discovered a class of RNA-programmable systems in prokaryotes called OMEGAs, which are often linked with transposable elements, or "jumping genes," in bacterial genomes and likely gave rise to CRISPR/Cas systems. That work also highlighted similarities between prokaryotic OMEGA systems and Fanzor proteins in eukaryotes, suggesting that the Fanzor enzymes might also use an RNA-guided mechanism to target and cut DNA. In the new study, the researchers continued their study of RNA-guided systems by isolating Fanzors from fungi, algae, and amoeba species, in addition to a clam known as the Northern Quahog. Co-first author Makoto Saito of the Zhang lab led the biochemical characterization of the Fanzor proteins, showing that they are DNA-cutting endonuclease enzymes that use nearby non-coding RNAs known as ωRNAs to target particular sites in the genome. It is the first time this mechanism has been found in eukaryotes, such as animals.

Unlike CRISPR proteins, Fanzor enzymes are encoded in the eukaryotic genome within transposable elements and the team's phylogenetic analysis suggests that the Fanzor genes have migrated from bacteria to eukaryotes through so-called horizontal gene transfer.

"These OMEGA systems are more ancestral to CRISPR and they are among the most abundant proteins on the planet, so it makes sense that they have been able to hop back and forth between prokaryotes and eukaryotes," said Saito.To explore Fanzor's potential as a genome editing tool, the researchers demonstrated that it can generate insertions and deletions at targeted genome sites within human cells. The researchers found the Fanzor system to initially be less efficient at snipping DNA than CRISPR/Cas systems, but by systematic engineering, they introduced a combination of mutations into the protein that increased its activity 10-fold. Additionally, unlike some CRISPR systems and the OMEGA protein TnpB, the team found that a fungal-derived Fanzor protein did not exhibit "collateral activity," where an RNA-guided enzyme cleaves its DNA target as well as degrading nearby DNA or RNA. The results suggest that Fanzors could potentially be developed as efficient genome editors.

Co-first author Peiyu Xu led an effort to analyze the molecular structure of the Fanzor/ωRNA complex and illustrate how it latches onto DNA to cut it. Fanzor shares structural similarities with its prokaryotic counterpart CRISPR-Cas12 protein, but the interaction between the ωRNA and the catalytic domains of Fanzor is more extensive, suggesting that the ωRNA might play a role in the catalytic reactions. "We are excited about these structural insights for helping us further engineer and optimize Fanzor for improved efficiency and precision as a genome editor," said Xu.

Like CRISPR-based systems, the Fanzor system can be easily reprogrammed to target specific genome sites, and Zhang said it could one day be developed into a powerful new genome editing technology for research and therapeutic applications. The abundance of RNA-guided endonucleases like Fanzors further expands the number of OMEGA systems known across kingdoms of life and suggests that there are more yet to be found."Nature is amazing. There's so much diversity," said Zhang. "There are probably more RNA-programmable systems out there, and we're continuing to explore and will hopefully discover more."

5) New mass spectrometry combo offers promise for tapping nature's unknown chemical universe by Tom Rickey, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory:

A SLIM approach Ion mobility spectrometry brings hefty results

The universe is awash in billions of possible chemicals. But even with a bevy of high-tech instruments, scientists have determined the chemical structures of just a small fraction of those compounds, maybe 1%.

Scientists at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) are taking aim at the other 99%, creating new ways to learn more about a vast sea of unknown compounds. There may be cures for disease, new approaches for tackling climate change, or new chemical or biological threats lurking in the chemical universe.The work is part of an initiative known as m/q, or "m over q"—shorthand for mass divided by charge, which signifies one of the ways that scientists measure chemical properties in the world of mass spectrometry."Right now, we can take a sample from soil, where, depending on soil type, there may be thousands of chemical compounds in just a teaspoon's worth," said Thomas Metz, who leads the m/q Initiative. "And we don't know what most of them are in terms of their chemical structures. We simply have no idea what's in there."

Chemist Chelsea Hutchinson prepares samples for a run on a mass spectrometer

Scientists typically rely on reference libraries that contain information about thousands of molecules to identify substances. Researchers sort their samples from soil, the body, or elsewhere and compare what they have measured experimentally to what's in the library. While that's helpful, it limits scientists to only structurally identifying molecules that have been seen before—for example, through analysis of standard compounds purchased from chemical suppliers.In the latest development, a team led by scientist Adam Hollerbach has combined two high-resolution instruments into one system to size up molecules in unprecedented detail. The results were published June 12 in the journal Analytical Chemistry.Now, scientists can make several important measurements about chemical compounds in one experiment, gaining important information faster, more conveniently, and more accurately than before.

Hollerbach's technique applies to ions—molecules that have either a positive or negative charge. That makes them easier to control and possible to detect using mass spectrometry.

Mass spectrometry: Tool of the ion whisperers

SLIM, an ion mobility spectrometer, is a 42-foot-long molecular racetrack packed into a small area around which ions race—yielding insights into their chemical structure

Like the people who study them, ions have many features that distinguish one from another. In people, weight, hair color, size, shape, eye color, and many other characteristics help us know who's who. For ions, identifying characteristics include mass, shape, size, electric charge, and chemical composition. Those not only serve as identifiers but also as guides to the associated molecules' behavior—clues to their potential to cure disease or sop up pollutants, for example.That understanding should help the efforts of scores of scientists at PNNL who focus on understanding the effect of microbes on climate. Microbes play a key role in transforming elements like carbon into other forms that are important for the planet. Their impact on warming or cooling the planet is mighty. But scientists have much to learn.

"There may be millions of microbes in just a gram of soil, and we don't know who most of them are or what they do. There's a lot of discovery still to happen," said Metz. "From the viewpoint of challenging science, it's either a worst-case scenario or one of our greatest opportunities, depending on how you look at it."The m/q scientists are seizing the opportunity. Instead of framing their questions within the relatively small number of compounds that can be identified in conventional mass spectrometry measurements, they're trying to leapfrog current limitations and create a whole new way of identifying what is unknown today. It's a bit like when a new telescope is deployed and reveals several distinct stars where before, just one blurry hodgepodge of celestial bodies was visible.The work is both experimental, putting molecules through their paces in the laboratory, and on computers, where scientists model what they are seeing and predict what they will likely see.In the experiments described in the Analytical Chemistry paper, Hollerbach and colleagues made sensitive measurements of peptides and lipids. The experiments combined two instruments with similar names but that provide different details about ions. Both are used in mass spectrometry, a field whose history is interwoven with discoveries by PNNL scientists.

Researcher Jason Toyoda prepares samples for mass spectrometry experiments

The first instrument is a mass spectrometer, which measures an ion's mass, electric charge, and how the ion breaks apart. In this study, the team used an Orbitrap developed by Thermo-Fisher Scientific. Such instruments sort molecules of different masses well, but two molecules with the same mass are difficult to separate. Think of two people, each weighing 180 lbs.—one is tall and thin while the other is short and stocky. On a scale alone, they would be impossible to separate.

A SLIM approach: Ion mobility spectrometry brings hefty results

The second instrument is known as SLIM: structures for lossless ion manipulations. SLIM, created by PNNL scientist Richard D. Smith and colleagues, is an ion mobility spectrometer that measures an ion's size and electric charge.

SLIM, which is about the size of a laptop and stands at just one-quarter of an inch thick, is a hothouse of molecular activity. Dozens of long, winding paths transform the small device into a 42-foot-long molecular racetrack, with ions that are controlled tightly by electric fields racing round and round an oval obstacle course.

The "obstacles" are other, known molecules such as helium or nitrogen molecules. As the ions under study race through the SLIM device, they navigate around or through the other molecules, tumbling and swerving much like a football running back runs through and around opposing blockers. The term "ion mobility spectrometry" truly captures the action.

By recording how long it takes for the ions to complete the course—how deftly they navigate the blocking ions—scientists learn all kinds of things about ions' shape and size. That information, which isn't available from a standard mass spec instrument, is combined with data about the ion's mass, electric charge, and fragmentation pattern. Altogether, the data yields the ion's collision cross section, its molecular formula, and its fragmentation pattern, properties that are central to understanding a molecule's structure.

Scientists in the mq Initiative are developing new ways to identify compounds in the vast unknown chemical universe

"Two different molecules can have the same number of atoms, and the same mass and charge, but they could have very different structures and activity. That's where SLIM comes in to tell the difference," said Hollerbach. "Just one small change can mean the difference between a molecule that is indicative of a disease and one that's not."

The key to Hollerbach's experiment was getting the two different instruments to play nicely together. While both standard mass spectrometry and ion mobility spectrometry analyze ions, they work on different time scales. Ions make their journey through SLIM and arrive at the Orbitrap faster than they can be processed.So Hollerbach drew on an old technique, deploying "dual-gated ion injection." He added gates to control the intake of ions into the system and to control their arrival at the Orbitrap, choosing to send some of the ions from SLIM into oblivion to keep the flow at a manageable rate."Really, the questions we ask are very simple," said Hollerbach. "What is this, and how much is there? But the techniques we use are complex."Other m/q scientists are working on additional ways to identify or exploit unknown molecules. Some are creating ways to use data like that from Hollerbach's experiment to predict an ion's structure automatically, so drug makers and other scientists would know exactly what they're working with. Others are scouting out the millions of possibilities for forms of compounds such as fentanyl, sorting out what's unlikely from what might show up on the street one day. Then they predict how those compounds would behave inside a mass spectrometer—creating a way to identify them if and when they do show up.

6) Researchers make a quantum computing leap with a magnetic twist by James Urton, University of Washington:

This artistic depiction shows electron fractionalization in which strongly interacting charges can fractionalize into three parts in the fractional quantum anomalous Hall phase

Quantum computing could revolutionize our world. For specific and crucial tasks, it promises to be exponentially faster than the zero-or-one binary technology that underlies today's machines, from supercomputers in laboratories to smartphones in our pockets. But developing quantum computers hinges on building a stable network of qubits—or quantum bits—to store information, access it and perform computations.

Yet the qubit platforms unveiled to date have a common problem: They tend to be delicate and vulnerable to outside disturbances. Even a stray photon can cause trouble. Developing fault-tolerant qubits—which would be immune to external perturbations—could be the ultimate solution to this challenge.

A team led by scientists and engineers at the University of Washington has announced a significant advancement in this quest. In a pair of papers published June 14 in Nature and June 22 in Science, the researchers report that in experiments with flakes of semiconductor materials—each only a single layer of atoms thick—they detected signatures of "fractional quantum anomalous Hall" (FQAH) states.

The team's discoveries mark a first and promising step in constructing a type of fault-tolerant qubit because FQAH states can host anyons—strange "quasiparticles" that have only a fraction of an electron's charge. Some types of anyons can be used to make what are called "topologically protected" qubits, which are stable against any small, local disturbances."This really establishes a new paradigm for studying quantum physics with fractional excitations in the future," said Xiaodong Xu, the lead researcher behind these discoveries, who is also the Boeing Distinguished Professor of Physics and a professor of materials science and engineering at the UW.

FQAH states are related to the fractional quantum Hall state, an exotic phase of matter that exists in two-dimensional systems. In these states, electrical conductivity is constrained to precise fractions of a constant known as the conductance quantum. But fractional quantum Hall systems typically require massive magnetic fields to keep them stable, making them impractical for applications in quantum computing. The FQAH state has no such requirement—it is stable even "at zero magnetic field," according to the team. Hosting such an exotic phase of matter required the researchers to build an artificial lattice with exotic properties. They stacked two atomically thin flakes of the semiconductor material molybdenum ditelluride (MoTe2) at small, mutual "twist" angles relative to one another. This configuration formed a synthetic "honeycomb lattice" for electrons.

When researchers cooled the stacked slices to a few degrees above absolute zero, an intrinsic magnetism arose in the system. The intrinsic magnetism takes the place of the strong magnetic field typically required for the fractional quantum Hall state. Using lasers as probes, the researchers detected signatures of the FQAH effect, a major step forward in unlocking the power of anyons for quantum computing.

The team—which also includes scientists at the University of Hong Kong, the National Institute for Materials Science in Japan, Boston College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology—envisions their system as a powerful platform to develop a deeper understanding of anyons, which have very different properties from everyday particles like electrons.

Anyons are quasiparticles—or particle-like "excitations"—that can act as fractions of an electron. In future work with their experimental system, the researchers hope to discover an even more exotic version of this type of quasiparticle: "non-Abelian" anyons, which could be used as topological qubits. Wrapping—or "braiding"—the non-Abelian anyons around each other can generate an entangled quantum state. In this quantum state, information is essentially "spread out" over the entire system and resistant to local disturbances—forming the basis of topological qubits and a major advancement over the capabilities of current quantum computers.

"This type of topological qubit would be fundamentally different from those that can be created now," said UW physics doctoral student Eric Anderson, who is lead author of the Science paper and co-lead author of the Nature paper. "The strange behavior of non-Abelian anyons would make them much more robust as a quantum computing platform."

Three key properties, all of which existed simultaneously in the researchers' experimental setup, allowed FQAH states to emerge:

Magnetism: Though MoTe2 is not a magnetic material, when they loaded the system with positive charges, a "spontaneous spin order"—a form of magnetism called ferromagnetism—emerged.

Topology: Electrical charges within their system have "twisted bands," similar to a Möbius strip, which helps make the system topological.

Interactions: The charges within their experimental system interact strongly enough to stabilize the FQAH state.

The team hopes that non-Abelian anyons await discovery via this new approach.

"The observed signatures of the fractional quantum anomalous Hall effect are inspiring," said UW physics doctoral student Jiaqi Cai, co-lead author on the Nature paper and co-author of the Science paper. "The fruitful quantum states in the system can be a laboratory-on-a-chip for discovering new physics in two dimensions, and also new devices for quantum applications."

"Our work provides clear evidence of the long-sought FQAH states," said Xu, who is also a member of the Molecular Engineering and Sciences Institute, the Institute for Nano-Engineered Systems and the Clean Energy Institute, all at UW. "We are currently working on electrical transport measurements, which could provide direct and unambiguous evidence of fractional excitations at zero magnetic field."

The team believes that with their approach, investigating and manipulating these unusual FQAH states can become commonplace—accelerating the quantum computing journey.

7) New venom discovery from deadly cone snails by University of Queensland:

Adult Conus magus cone snail eating fish

University of Queensland researchers have reared deadly cone snails in a laboratory aquarium for the first time, uncovering a potential treasure trove of new venoms for drug development. The findings are published in the journal Nature Communications.

Professor Richard Lewis, Dr. Aymeric Rogalski and Dr. Himaya Siddhihalu Wickrama Hewage from UQ's Institute for Molecular Bioscience study venoms as therapeutics, and discovered crucial differences across the lifecycle of the tiny carnivorous marine species.

Professor Lewis said they found variations in the Conus magus diet, behavior and toxicity. "Juvenile cone snails use a different cocktail of venoms than adult snails to kill their prey," Professor Lewis said.

Juvenile cone snails under a microscope

"This is a rich and unexplored group of molecules that we can now examine as potential leads for drugs.

"A lot of our success with venom molecules has been in developing pain medications, but depending on the pharmacology we'll see if it has therapeutic potential for any of the disease classes."The researchers were also surprised to find juvenile cone snails didn't feed on fish like the adults of the species."The juveniles would only eat polychaete worms, which they catch using a specific hunting technique we named 'sting and stalk,'" Professor Lewis said."They jab the worm with a harpoon-like structure before injecting it with venom to subdue it."The juvenile snail then slowly stalks the worm and sucks it up, like a small piece of spaghetti."During the larvae stage, cone snails feed on a type of microalgae, with their diet changing after their metamorphosis into half-millimeter-long juveniles.

Professor Lewis said researchers around the world have studied adult marine cone snails and their deadly venom, but little had been known about their early life stages.

"This is because their eggs, larvae and juveniles are so hard to find and difficult to rear in an aquarium," he said."Dr. Rogalski took up the challenge during his Ph.D., establishing very elaborate aquaculture studies to find out how and what each stage of the snail ate."The researchers now have a sustainable system in which they can rear cone snails in a controlled environment, enabling studies of the life cycle and venoms of the juveniles.

Omega-conotoxin MVIIA, molecular model. This peptide is a component of the venom produced by some cone snails. It is a powerful analgesic (painkiller) with an effect between 100 to 1000 times that of morphine

1) Rahul Gandhi: Congress leader meets victims of violence in Manipur:By Cherylann Mollan BBC News, Mumbai:

India's opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has met people affected by the violence that has engulfed the north-eastern state of Manipur.On Friday, the Congress leader visited relief camps in Moirang town and met displaced families, the party said.

Mr Gandhi, who is on a two-day trip to the state, also visited a relief camp in Churachandpur district on Thursday.He travelled there by helicopter after his convoy was stopped by the police, who cited security concerns.

Mr Gandhi is scheduled to meet leaders of civil society groups on Friday in the state capital, Imphal.For the past two months, Manipur has been convulsed by clashes between the majority Meitei and Kuki communities.More than 100 people have been killed and 400 wounded in the violence. Tens of thousands have fled their homes.Clashes broke out after the state's main ethnic group, the Meiteis, demanded tribal status which gives access to benefits such as forest land and government job and education quotas.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has met top government officials to review the situation in Manipur but he has been criticised for not visiting the state or commenting on the situation there.Almost a month after violence began, Home Minister Amit Shah visited the state to put in place a plan to restore normalcy, but fresh incidents of violence continue to be reported almost daily.After arriving in Imphal on Thursday morning, Mr Gandhi shared a Facebook post saying that "restoration of peace is the top priority. Manipur needs healing, and only together we can bring harmony".

But soon after, senior Congress leader KC Venugopal told reporters that Mr Gandhi's convoy had been stopped by police near Bishnupur district while he was on his way to Churachandpur town to visit relief camps."Police say that they are not in a position to allow us. People are standing on both sides of the road to wave to Rahul Gandhi. We are not able to understand why have they stopped us?" Mr Venugopal said.

Police said the convoy had been stopped for Mr Gandhi's security. "Seeing the ground situation, we stopped him from moving forward and advised him to travel to Churachandpur via a helicopter," Heisnam Balram Singh, a senior Bishnupur police official, told ANI news agency. Congress Party president Mallikarjun Kharge accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of "using autocratic methods to stall a compassionate outreach" by Mr Gandhi.

"This is totally unacceptable and shatters all Constitutional and Democratic norms. Manipur needs peace, not confrontation," he tweeted.Congress MP Jairam Ramesh said Mr Gandhi's two-day visit to the state was in the spirit of his Bharat Jodo Yatra - a five-month long unity march across the country."The Prime Minister may choose to remain silent or be inactive but why stop Rahul Gandhi's efforts to listen to all sections of the Manipuri society and provide a healing touch?" he said.

However, some BJP leaders have criticised the timing of Mr Gandhi's visit, calling it politically motivated.Nearly 60,000 people have been displaced due to violence in Manipur and are taking shelter in some 350 camps.

Mr Gandhi's visit comes amid the opposition's demand for the resignation of the state's chief minister, N Biren Singh, who is from the BJP.Congress leaders have criticised Mr Singh for not being able to "restore peace and normalcy" in the state and have asked for federal rule to be imposed. Mr Venugopal tweeted about Mr Gandhi's visit on Tuesday, and said that the state had been "burning for nearly two months" and "desperately needs a healing touch so that society can move from conflict to peace".

Since the clashes began early in May, many homes, churches and temples have been destroyed by mobs while the homes of some state ministers and legislators have been attacked and set on fire.Close to 40,000 security forces have been deployed to quell the violence.But the situation continues to remain tense. Normal life has been thrown completely out of gear for the locals who are facing curfews, internet shutdowns and sporadic killings and arson.

2) Chandra Shekhar Aazad Attack: Wrestlers Meet Bhim Army Chief in Hospital:

Aazad is alright and has been taken to CHC for medical treatment, said SSP Vipin TadaWrestlers Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia visited Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad in the hospital, a day after his convoy was attacked by armed men in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh.

A First Information Report (FIR) was also registered over the attack on Thursday, 29 June.

"Half an hour back, the convoy of Chandra Shekhar Aazad was fired at by a few car-borne armed men. A bullet brushed past him. He is alright and has been taken to CHC for medical treatment. Police is investigating the matter," said SSP Vipin Tada said on Wednesday, 28 June. "I don't remember who they were, my associates identified them. The car ran ahead of us towards Saharanpur. Ours was the only car at that point, the other cars of the convoy were either ahead or behind us. My younger brother Manish was among the five people in the car. We took a U-turn after the attack. I called SSP Saharanpur and told him that I am hurt, that's all I remember. Can't point out to anybody I know as a suspect," Aazad had said. The case has been registered under charges of attempt to murder and provisions of offences under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) Act.

Meanwhile, the Haryana registered Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire car used by the shooters in the attack on Azad samaj party chief Chandrashekhar Azad has been recovered by the police, Ajay Sahni, Deputy Inspector General, Saharanpur range told The Quint.

"It was found abandoned at an undisclosed location in Deoband, Saharanpur. It is learnt from the police sources that the shooters fled after abandonding the vehicle. Efforts are being made to ascertain the identity of the shooters," Sahni said.

'Opposition a Target in UP': SP

Reacting to the incident, for UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said, "The attack on Chandra Shekhar Aazad, National President of Aazad Samaj Party in Deoband, Saharanpur, by criminals protected by the government is highly condemnable and cowardly act. When the people's representatives are not safe in the BJP rule, then what will happen to the general public? Jungle Raj in UP!"

Meanwhile, SP leader Shivpal Yadav said, "The morale of the criminals in the state is so high that the chaotic elements have started breaking all their limits and boundaries. The opposition in UP is now the target of both the government and the criminals. The deadly attack on Bhim Army Chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad is an alarm for the hollow law and order situation in the state."

3) 'Will Not Be Stepping Down as Chief Minister of Manipur', Biren Singh Clarifies:

N Biren Singh had convened a meeting of Cabinet ministers at 8 am in which he announced his decision to quit as CM. Amid intense speculation, N Biren Singh clarified on Twitter on Friday, 30 June, that he will not be stepping down as the Chief Minister of Manipur. "At this critical juncture, I wish to clarify that I will not be resigning from the post of Chief Minister," Singh said on Twitter.

Earlier, senior minister Govindas Konthoujam said while addressing a group of people that the chief minister has decided not to resign, respecting the sentiments of the people and a large crowd that had blocked his convoy when he was on the way to the Raj Bhawan on Friday.The crowd, which included a large number of women, tore apart the resignation letter which Biren Singh was carrying to Raj Bhawan at around 2:30 pm, according to Deccan Herald.The crowd had gathered in front of the CM's official residence in Imphal and had blocked the convoy in which he was travelling to meet the Governor.

The protesting women emphasised the need for stability and continuity in leadership, particularly at a time when social and political tensions are high.

Singh's resignation, they argued, could exacerbate the existing unrest and hinder progress towards finding a peaceful resolution to the state's issues.Sarojini, a protester, said, "Now the Chief Minister and his Cabinet ministers are about to resign but they can’t do this at this juncture. We have chosen them as our leaders; so they can’t resign without our permission."

Earlier, Singh had convened a meeting of Cabinet ministers at his residence at around 8 am, in which he announced his decision to quit, according to Deccan Herald.Speculations of Singh's resignation were triggered on Friday, 30 June, after almost two months of his reported failure to stop the violence in the state. Singh had also met Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on 25 June.

According to a report published in Manipur daily Sangai Express, Singh received several calls from New Delhi on Thursday, 29 June, in which he was offered the option to put in his papers or the Centre would "take over the administration."

The Assembly is likely to be put in put in animated suspension, the report added.Singh has been facing flak from Opposition parties as well as his own party for the way he has been handling the crisis in the hill state.The violence has left more than 100 people dead, over 300 people injured, and thousands displaced.

4) PM Modi ‘uneasy’ as Opposition plans next meet in Bengaluru on July 13, 14, says Sharad Pawar:

Bengaluru meet to discuss future electoral strategy, ways to combat BJP’s misuse of power and creation of communal situations; focus on women’s reservation before talking of UCC, says NCP chief.

Remarking that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “uneasiness” had increased following the June 23 meeting of Opposition parties in Patna, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar on June 29 said that the next meeting of Opposition parties would be held in Bengaluru on July 13 and 14.

“It appears that the PM’s uneasiness has increased after our Patna meeting where leaders of 16 Opposition parties gathered. He was in America when we met in Patna… On his return, when he came to know of our meeting, his uneasiness started increasing and he began attacking us at a personal level. He even called our meeting ‘a photogenic session’. We have taken a decision to meet again on July 13 and 14 in Bengaluru,” Mr. Pawar said, adding that a previous plan to hold the meeting in Shimla had been scrapped as the hill-station was facing excess rainfall.

5) Congress questions high cost of US drone deal; corruption in Opp party’s DNA, says BJP:

Congress leader Pawan Khera

The BJP reacted sharply to the Congress stand on the deal saying that “doing scams in defence deals has become a part of the opposition party's DNA and it cannot see beyond corruption”. The Congress on Wednesday raised questions on the multi-crore India-US drone deal, alleging that the government is procuring 31 MQ-9B Predator UAV drones for a higher price and demanded complete transparency regarding the contract. The main opposition party claimed that several countries have brought MQ-9B Predator Drones or very similar variants at a lower price than India.

The BJP reacted sharply to the Congress stand on the deal saying that “doing scams in defence deals has become a part of the opposition party’s DNA and it cannot see beyond corruption”.

Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters, Congress media department head Pawan Khera claimed that the US Air Force bought MQ-9 drone, which is a superior quality version, at USD 56.5 million per drone while the UK Air Force bought MQ-9B drone at USD 12.5 million per drone in 2016.

Demanding "complete transparency" in the Predator drone deal, the Congress on Wednesday alleged that the Narendra Modi government was buying 31 drones by paying four times more than what other countries paid. Congress Media Department Chairman Pawan...

Earlier on Sunday, the Ministry of Defence said that it is yet to finalise the cost and specific terms of purchase of 31 drones from the United States and it will examine the price offered to other nations before concluding the procurement.

The Congress alleged that the Government of India is paying 3.072 billion (Rs 25,200 crore) deal for 31 MQ-9B Predator drones manufactured by General Atomics. "Why is India paying more than the actual price for a drone, as compared to other countries? Why are we paying the highest price for a drone, which does not have AI integration," Congress asked.

6) Bengal BJP questions timing of Mamata Banerjee's injury ahead of panchayat polls:

Bengal BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar wished Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee a speedy recovery while questioning the timing of her injury ahead of panchayat elections in the state. The state BJP questioned how Mamata Banerjee gets injured in a specific area every time an election is near.

The Trinamool Congress chief was injured today when the helicopter she was flying in made an emergency landing at the Sevoke air base near Siliguri due to inclement weather.

Mamata to campaign for panchayat elections, Opp says she is feeling the heat

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will commence her campaign for the ensuing panchayat elections in the state on Monday from Cooch Behar district. The Trinamool Congress chief reached Cooch Behar on Sunday afternoon and will address a public meeting at Cooch Behar in north Bengal on Monday, commencing her campaign for the panchayat polls, party leaders said.

The BJP alleged that doubts over the outcome of the rural polls have forced the TMC chief to canvass for party candidates in the panchayat polls. BJP national vice president Dilip Ghosh said it is below her political stature to campaign for the rural polls. “When her party leaders claim that she is a potential prime ministerial candidate, it is expected that she campaigns for the Lok Sabha and the assembly elections; it seems she is worried about the outcome of the polls,” Ghosh told reporters here.

Mamata Banerjee turns ‘tea-seller’ while campaigning for Bengal panchayat polls.

As panchayat poll fervour heats up in West Bengal, chief minister Mamata Banerjee amped up her election campaign by serving tea to people in Jalpaiguri's Malbazar. In a video shared by news agency ANI, Banerjee was seen making tea at a roadside stall.

The CM on Monday accused the BSF of threatening voters at the orders of the BJP and asked the police to keep a close tab on their activities.

Banerjee assured that the party will strive to remove corruption in the local body as the party had renewed its focus to the rural polls through mass outreach programmes. She added that people's views were considered while choosing candidates Taking a dig at BJP's "double engine government" slogan, the TMC supremo said it would be trounced in the panchayat and 2024 Lok Sabha polls. "We will oust the BJP from the Centre and bring a development-oriented government in the country," she added.

The state has been witnessing political clashes ever since the announcement of the July 8 elections.

The Calcutta high court had earlier ordered the deployment of central paramilitary forces in seven sensitive districts to ensure peaceful polls. The Supreme Court on Tuesday approved the same and dismissed the petitions filed by the state government and the state election commission (SEC) against the HC order in this.

Around 5.67 crore voters are set to vote to elect nearly 75,000 candidates in zilla parishads, panchayat samiti and gram panchayats.

5 aboard Titanic tourist sub are dead after ‘catastrophic implosion’ BY ALEXANDRA E. PETRISTAFF WRITER JUNE 22, 2023 UPDATED 5:17 PM PT:

All five passengers aboard a submersible that vanished while on a dive to explore the Titanic wreck site have died, officials said Thursday after underwater robots discovered seafloor debris from the sub that was “consistent with a catastrophic implosion.”

A robot from the Canadian vessel Horizon Arctic discovered several major pieces of the 21-foot sub, the Titan, in a debris field about 1,600 feet from the bow of the Titanic, U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. John W. Mauger said at a news conference.

“The debris is consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber,” Mauger said.

The families of the passengers have been notified, he said.

“On behalf of the U.S. Coast Guard and the entire unified command, I offer my deepest condolences to the families,” he said. “I can only imagine what this has been like for them. I hope that this discovery provides some solace during this difficult time.”

The five passengers were Stockton Rush, the pilot of the exploration and chief executive of OceanGate Expeditions, which owns and operates the sub; Hamish Harding, chairman of Action Aviation, a Dubai-based aircraft dealer; Paul-Henry Nargeolet, a veteran and accomplished diver with more than 30 trips to the wreck site; and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and son Suleman. OceanGate said in a statement that its “hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time.”

“These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s ocean,” the company said. “We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew.” The sub was reported missing after it lost contact with the Canadian research vessel Polar Prince about 1 hour and 45 minutes into its dive Sunday about 900 miles east of Cape Cod, Mass., the Coast Guard said.Its disappearance set off an international search-and-rescue effort, as crews raced around the clock using specialized equipment to find the sub, which was designed to have an initial air supply of 96 hours. Officials also said it had only “limited rations” of food and water.The search grew to 10,000 square miles, roughly the size of Massachusetts, and went 2½ miles deep. Through the days-long effort, officials maintained optimism that the operation would remain a search-and-rescue effort and not a recovery mission.

Assets launched in the search included American and Canadian aerial support vessels that scanned the ocean’s surface and subsurface using sonobuoys; U.S. Navy divers; coast guard and research vessels from Canada, France and Norway, some of which were equipped with highly specialized remote-operated vehicles that could work on the ocean’s floor; and assistance from commercial vessels.

A moment of promise came Tuesday when the Coast Guard confirmed reports that banging noises were detected on the seafloor by sonobuoys dropped from Canadian aircraft. Although officials said the origins of the sounds were unclear, they became the target of search efforts. At the news conference Thursday, Mauger said the underwater noises, which were also observed Wednesday, did not appear to be connected to the sub’s location. The implosion would generate “significant broadband sound” that would have been picked up by the sonobuoys, he said.

Paul Hankins, a salvage expert for the U.S. Navy, said five major pieces of debris from the Titan were found, including the nose cone, which was outside of the pressure hull. Crews also found a large debris field that contained the front-end bell of the pressure hull.

“That was the first indication there was a catastrophic event,” he said. A second, smaller debris field contained the other end of the pressure hull and other wreckage that compromised the totality of the vessel.

Officials said that the debris was in an area away from the Titanic wreckage in a patch of smooth ocean floor and that there were no signs the vessel collided with the historic ship. The size of the debris field and the vessel’s last-known location are consistent with an “implosion in the water column,” officials said.

Mauger said it is too early to tell when the vessel imploded, and added that listening equipment used throughout the search did not detect any type of catastrophic event.

However, a U.S. government official familiar with the incident but not authorized to speak to the media told The Times that technology designed to listen to the ocean for movement captured the sound of the submersible imploding around the time communications were lost. The news was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, which noted the sound “anomaly.”

When asked whether the victims’ remains might be recovered, Mauger said he did not have an answer, reiterating the implosion and underlining the ocean’s harsh conditions. “This is an incredibly unforgiving environment down there on the seafloor,” he said.

Like the search-and-rescue efforts, the investigation into what happened will be complex, Mauger said, because of the remote location where the event occurred and because it involves the government agencies of several countries whose citizens were aboard.

The composite material used to build the sub and a lack of safety systems will be the focus of a maritime inquiry, which most likely will involve Canadian and U.S. investigators, according to sources familiar with such operations.

Nine vessels were at the location Thursday, and demobilization efforts are expected to take place over the next 24 hours. But remote-operated vehicles will continue to map the ocean floor, Mauger said, and officials are working to develop a timeline of the implosion.

“I know that there’s also a lot of questions about how, why and when did this happen,” Mauger said. “Those are questions that we will collect as much information as we can on now.” OceanGate has been running expeditions with “citizen explorers” to the Titanic since 2021 on its Titan sub, according to its website. But as the search unfolded, new details emerged that submersible industry leaders, oceanographers and former employees had long sent warning signs about the Titan.

The Manned Underwater Vehicles Committee at the Marine Technology Society, which advocates for marine technology and resources, wrote a private letter to Rush in 2018 calling on him to allow for a third-party safety review of the Titan. The letter said the marketing for the Titan was, “at minimum, misleading to the public and breaches an industry-wide professional code of conduct we all endeavor to uphold.”

“Our apprehension is that the current experimental approach adopted by OceanGate could result in negative outcomes (from minor to catastrophic) that would have serious consequences for everyone in the industry,” the letter stated.

That same year, David Lochridge, a former OceanGate employee, raised red flags about the Titan in litigation against the company, “particularly OceanGate’s refusal to conduct critical, non-destructive testing of the experimental design of the hull.”

Lochridge, a submersible pilot hired to do quality and safety inspections, said he was terminated for coming forward. He said he disagreed with Rush’s decision to “subject passengers to potential extreme danger in an experimental submersible.” In court papers, OceanGate denied Lochridge’s claims, and the case was later settled.

Rush had criticized what he considered red tape. “One of the jabs that gets thrown at us is: ‘Hey, you aren’t certified.’ But how can you do something new and get certified?” Rush asked in a 2022 article in Maptia. “If the rules exist for how to do it, then you are operating outside of the rules by doing something different.”

Referring to Gen. Douglas MacArthur, he added: “I think it was MacArthur who said, ‘You are remembered for the rules you break.’ We try to break the rules intelligently and intentionally.”

1) SAFF Championships 2023: India’s draw against Kuwait feels like a loss, says skipper Sunil Chhetri:

India skipper Sunil Chhetri celebrates after scoring the opening goal against Kuwait during the SAFF Championship 2023 match in Bengaluru on Tuesday

Chhetri bagged his 92nd international goal but saw his team succumb to a 1-1 draw against Kuwait, courtesy of a late own goal by Anwar Ali.

Indian football team captain Sunil Chhetri did what he does best – score goals. But, against Kuwait, it was not enough. Getting at the end of a pinpoint ball by Thapa, the Indian skipper rattled the net on the volley to give India a 1-0 lead in the dying stages of the first-half.

Chhetri bagged his 92nd international goal but saw his team succumb to a 1-1 draw, courtesy of a late own goal by Anwar Ali.

The last time India played Kuwait was in an international friendly in 2010, where the Blue Tigers suffered a 9-1 humiliation. From that result to holding the Al-Azraqs to a 1-1 draw has surely been an improvement. However, Chhetri was not satisfied. “The feeling that comes to my mind right is a feeling of loss because, at the last moment, we conceded that goal. But I am sure we did a lot of good things. When we watch the video analysis, we will come to know better,” the Indian skipper said after the match. “To a large extent, we could do what we had trained for. They are not an easy side. This team can play, and we can see that. But for the majority of the time. I think we did well, but right now, I can’t say much about it. Once we see the video, we will probably know it better.”

Chhetri on Stimac’s red card

The match against Kuwait was an ill-tempered one, with India head coach Igor Stimac seeing a red card for dissent. It is the Croat’s second red card in the tournament, having already seen the first one in India’s 2023 SAFF Championship opener against Pakistan.

By the time Stimac saw the red card in the 81st minute, Chhetri had already been substituted. Asked about what exactly transpired leading up to the red, he said, “I have no idea. I came to the party late. I was right there [in the dugout], but by the time I had arrived at the scene, everything had already happened. We haven’t talked about it. We generally don’t talk about games right after the match. We will recuperate, and then we will see.”

2) Sutirtha-Ayhika pair clinches WTT Contender title:

Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee overwhelmed the Japanese pair of Miyuu Kihara and Miwa Harimoto 3-1 to win the WTT Contender Tunis Women’s Doubles title at the Sports Hall of Rades in Tunisia on Sunday. The pair thus became the first Indian table tennis players to clinch a WTT Contender title this year.

The Indian duo played an attacking game and won the first two games easily. The Japanese pair rallied back in the third game Sutritha and Ayhika kept their cool and won the fourth game to win the title 11-5, 11-6, 5-11, 13-11. in the final. Harimoto won the women’s singles title at Tunis earlier in the day.

On the way to the title clash, Sutirtha and Ayhika turned out to be giant killers as they stunned top-seeds and world championships silver medallists Shin Yubin and Jeon Ji-hee of Korea in the semis.

Earlier, they accounted for bronze medallists from the 2022 world championships Chinese Taipei’s Chen Szu-Yu and Huang Yi-Hua, after beating Amy Wang and Rachel Sung of the USA in the opening round.

In the mixed doubles event, the pair of Manika Batra and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran made the semi-finals before going down to Shin Yubin and Lim Jonghoon of Korea on Saturday.

The men’s doubles pair of Manav Vikash Thakkar and Manush Utpalbhai Shah also made the final four before going down to the Korean pair of Cho Daeseong and Cho Seungmin.

Commonwealth Games 2022 champion Sharath Kamal and compatriot Sathiyan Gnanasekaran were eliminated in the first round of singles. Harmeet Desai crashed out in the pre-quarterfinals.

In the women’s singles category, Manika Batra lost in the first round. Tokyo Olympian Ayhika Mukherjee was the only Indian women’s player to make the second round.

Results of other Indian players: Sanil Shetty,Manush Shah (failed to qualify)

Women’s singles: Diya Parag Chitale Sreeja Akula (lost in the first round), Reeth Tennison, Sutirtha Mukherjee (failed to qualify)

Men’s doubles: Harmeet Desai/Sharath Kamal (lost in the first round)

Women’s doubles: Diya Parag Chitale/Sreeja Akula – Out in the first round.

3) Special Olympic World Games: India end with whopping 202 medals, including 76 gold:

India secured 76 gold, 75 silver and 51 bronze medals in the global multi-sport spectacle that celebrates unity, diversity and special skills among people with intellectual disabilities. Berlin: India ended their Special Olympics World Games campaign with a whopping 202 medals, including 76 gold, with the last pair of yellow metal coming from athletics in Berlin.

The Indian athletes bagged six medals from the track events (2 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze) on the concluding day on Sunday with Aanchal Goyal (400m, Level B Female) and Ravimathi Arumugam (400m, Level C Female) standing on top of the podium.

Saket Kundu, who had earlier grabbed a silver medal in the mini javelin Level B, also won a bronze in the Level B 400m race, a rare double in track and field India secured 76 gold, 75 silver and 51 bronze medals in the global multi-sport spectacle that celebrates unity, diversity and special skills among people with intellectual disabilities.

The Indians were among a host of participants who later in the day took part in an evocative, emotional and triumphant closing ceremony at the Brandenburg gate in the centre of the historic city.

Speaking about the Indian contingent’s performance at the Games, Special Olympics Bharat chairperson Mallika Nada said, “A huge number of our athletes have faced social discrimination of various forms, and are regarded as non functioning members of society in various quarters.

“It is an obsolete thought, and an inaccurate one too. Their performance in the sporting arena prove that they are capable of great feats, or strength, speed, concentration and discipline. And I hope this opens the eyes of those on the outside and proves that we need to expand this movement further and make it more inclusive.”

The Indian contingent is made up of 198 athletes and unified partners and 57 coaches who competed in 16 sports.

4)Modest start by Indian golfers; Pranavi, Vani best among them in Finland:

Diksha Dagar of India in action

A week after winning her second Ladies European Tour title, it was not the best of starts for Indian golfer Diksha Dagar as she was tied 90th after a storm-hit opening day on Friday. Diksha’s fellow Indian golfers had decent starts at the Ladies Open by Pickala Rock Resort.

The day’s proceedings were hindered by not one but two storm delays and it took a toll on many players.Diksha, who had 13 birdies and an eagle last week, had no birdies in her round of 74 and will need a solid second round to make the cut.Pranavi Urs, playing on a sponsor’s exemption, shot even par 72 and was T-55, as was Vani Kapoor. Amandeep Drall and Ridhima Dilawari (73) were T-78th while Tvesa Malik and Diksha, with 74 each, were T-90.But with the scoreboard rather tight, a good round could see the Indians make the cut.Pranavi had two birdies against two bogeys. Ridhima Dilawari had as many as five birdies, but also gave away three bogeys and a double bogey.Carmen Alonso of Spain stormed into an early lead after firing a magnificent 64 (-8). She capitalised on her late start and missed the storm delays to fire birdies and one eagle to lead the field.One back from Alonso is Austrian Christine Wolf, who after her first and only win on the LET in Hero Indian Open some years back, is still looking for her second win.

Starting on the back-nine, the one-time LET winner posted birdies on the 12th, 13th, and 17th before play came to a halt following an electrical storm. After a three hour delay, Wolf kept her composure to birdie the third, fifth and seventh holes before setting up another on the ninth following a fine approach.Hot on Wolf’s heels in T3 on six-under-par 66 were Finland’s Linda Osala and Sweden’s Johanna Gustavsson.

5) Neeraj Chopra wins gold medal in Lausanne Diamond League with 86.77-metre throw:

Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra continued his tremendous form as he came back from a one-month injury lay-off to clinch the top spot in the Lausanne leg of the Diamond League, his second straight win of the season in the prestigious one-day meeting series, on Friday.

The 25-year-old Chopra had skipped three top events due to a muscle strain he sustained while training last month but came back with a bang as he won the Diamond League title here with his fifth-round throw of 87.66m. He began with a foul and then had 83.52m and 85.04m throws. He had another foul in the fourth round before coming up with his winning throw of 87.66m next. His sixth and last throw was 84.15m. The Indian superstar had won the season-opening Diamond League meeting in Doha on May 5 with a throw of 88.67m. He has a personal best of 89.94m. In the men's long jump, India's Murali Sreeshankar finished fifth with a below-par jump of 7.88m which he achieved in the third round.

The 24-year-old Sreeshankar, who had clinched the third spot in the Paris leg on June 9 for his maiden Diamond League podium finished had produced a career-best 8.41m during the National Inter-State Championships in Bhubaneswar earlier this month.

1) Lust Stories 2:

Lust Stories 2 primarily narrates the stories from a female perspective; it explores modern-day relationships through the lens of sexuality and physical desires. The anthology has been directed by four skilled filmmakers and each brings a different story and perspective on how a woman’s sexuality is commonly looked at in our society and what needs to be changed.

Lust Stories 2 is beautifully directed, and the storylines of all the stories are just amazingly curated. Like the previous season of Lust Stories, there were a few hits and a few misses in the second season as well. But to sum it up, it is definitely worth a watch.

2) Night Manager 2 :

John le Carré's, 'The Night Manager', has been adapted into a Hindi version by The Ink Factory and Banijay Asia. Sandeep Modi serves as the series creator, while Priyanka Ghose takes on the role of director. Aditya's character is prepared for his mission, but he will encounter unexpected challenges while attempting to expose Anil and his illegal activities. 'The Night Manager' Season 2 will premiere on June 30, 2023, exclusively on Disney+ Hotstar

3) Shibpur:

Shibpur is a Bengali movie released on 30 Jun, 2023. The movie is directed by Arindam Bhattacharya and featured Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Swastika Mukherjee, Mamata Shankar and Susmita Chatterjee as lead characters. Other popular actors who were roped in for Shibpur are Rajatava Dutta, Kharaj Mukherjee, Sumit Samaddar, Rajatabha Dutta and Akshay Kapoor..

Cast & Crew

Arindam Bhattacharya

Director

Parambrata Chattopadhyay

Actor

Swastika Mukherjee

Actor

Mamata Shankar

4) Satya Prem Ki Katha:

A young dreamer Satyaprem gets married to the woman he loves, Katha, but she`s holding on to a secret that`s not easy to let go of. What will happen when Sattu uncovers the truth?

Book Of This Week:

The Mystic Sinners by Proyashi Barua

The Mystic Sinners, a rare work of fiction on mysticism and tantra, based on extensive research done by the author, is now available in audio format as well. The book was already available in print and electronic formats. For her research, Barua traveled extensively to the two main centers of tantra in India–Varanasi, and Kamakhya, and put together a formidable storyline around the facts, making the book an unputdownable read, and a good beginner's guide to the world of tantra and mysticism.

Maya and Kamakshi suffer at the behest of tantrics. Their friend Ranbeer, a filmmaker, starts work on an investigative documentary to expose those who misuse occult practices. Unknowingly, they embark onto a trail of the biggest undiscovered secret of ancient India's esoteric practices. As they progress, the mystery thickens and takes them to hotbeds of occult practices - Banaras, Kamakhya and even Yana, where they witness eerie aghori rituals, mystical sanyasis and tantric sex. Soon, a series of uncanny threats emerge, from severed heads of endangered species to the abduction of those who help the trio, and a tsunami of trouble hits them as they run helter-skelter for cover. Will they succeed in unearthing the secret and the mystic sinners behind it? Or will they entangle themselves in an unholy Nexus?

MORE ON PROYASHI BARUA

Proyashi Barua is a Guwahati-based content writer and consultant. An alumnus of Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication (SIMC), she has worked for about fifteen years in the communications and media industry including The Times of India, Hindustan Times, and an international foreign trade magazine where she served in the capacity of an assistant editor. She also has a keen interest in learning about the probable causes that led to the extinction of some important ancient and medieval civilisations. Astrology, numerology and music are some pastimes that fill her soul. Incidentally, Proyashi was the only author from Assam to participate as a speaker/panelist at the prestigious Mystic Kalinga Festival (a festival on mystic literature, verse and music) organised at Bhubaneswar last year in February by the directors of Kalinga Literature Festival (KLF). About the Publisher: Readomania is an independent publishing company based in New Delhi. Established in September 2014, the house publishes an eclectic mix of fiction and non-fiction, with a focus on new writing and new voices from the region.