'I see no happy ending' - a former national security leader on the Gaza hostage situation

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'I see no happy ending' - a former national security leader on the Gaza hostage situation     Hamas took more than 200 people hostage during its deadly rampage in Israeli border towns on Oct. 7, 2023. Among the hostages are children and the elderly. While four of them have been released, the fate of the rest is unknown, as Qatar serves as an intermediary in working to free the hostages. In this interview with Naomi Schalit, The Conversation U.S. senior politics and democracy editor, Gregory F. Treverton of USC Dornsife, a former chairman of the National Intelligence Council in the Obama administration, says most hostage-taking has specific goals. This one, says Treverton, “is basically an adjunct of warfare, and that makes it very different” – and very hard to solve. How do people in your field think about hostage-taking? I would imagine that the feeling is, “Oh, my god, please let nothing like that happen.” Continued here

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What makes a film score frightening? Expert explains the techniques that build tension and make us jump     Think of the scariest film you’ve ever seen. Beyond any blood-curdling screams or pounding heartbeats, there’s sure to be another sound that sticks in your memory – the score. Perhaps that’s the shrieking strings of Psycho (1960), or the pulsing piano melody and ominous bass of the Halloween franchise (1971-2022). Maybe it’s the eclectic score for Suspiria (1997) – which combined instruments including synthesizers, Greek bouzouki, Indian tabla and whispering voices. Or does The Shining’s (1980) unsettling quotations of music by avant-garde composers like Ligeti and Penderecki still haunt your nightmares? Continued here

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Electrifying offshore platforms targets a tiny fraction of the oil industry's emissions     We are all familiar with the greenhouse gas emissions that come from burning fossil fuels in car engines, central heating systems and power stations. Little discussed is the climate footprint of producing oil and gas in the first place.Extracting, refining and distributing oil and gas requires energy. Pumps, compressors, heaters and drilling units treat and move the fuels from many kilometres underground using electricity typically generated by gas turbines. Clearly, burning gas at offshore production sites will result in local emissions of climate-heating CO₂. Continued here

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'The Undead Archive' exhibit: Contemporary artists respond to 1920s photos of mediums manifesting spirits     In July 1923, the British author Arthur Conan Doyle arrived in Winnipeg to give a public lecture, “The Proofs of Immortality,” as part of a 40-city North American tour that attracted sizable audiences. Doyle, widely known today as the writer who created Sherlock Holmes, was also a spiritualist — part of circles of people who adhered to and investigated the religious belief that souls of the dead can interact with living people. Continued here

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A mystery disease hit South Africa's pine trees 40 years ago: new DNA technology has found the killer     In the 1970s and 1980s, pine trees growing in various forestry plantations in South Africa’s Western Cape province began to die in patches. These trees succumbed to a mysterious root disease and the patches expanded gradually. Spontaneous regrowth of seedlings in the patches died dramatically. As in many other true crime dramas, the finger was initially pointed at the most likely suspect: the root-infecting Phytophthora cinnamomi. Its name – plant (phyto) destroyer (phthora) – reveals its power to cause harm; the pathogen is known to cause disease in almost 5,000 different plants. Continued here

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Five works of Welsh gothic literature you should read this Halloween     Wales has sought to rediscover its identity and autonomy since the devolution referendum of 1997. Authors and publishers have embraced the gothic genre as a means of exploring Welsh language, culture and heritage – reflecting on the anxieties Welsh society has experienced since becoming a devolved nation. Halloween (or Nos Galan Gaeaf, as we say in Wales) presents the perfect opportunity for us to explore these social tensions through the macabre. Continued here

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Domicide: the destruction of homes in Gaza reminds me of what happened to my city, Homs     This article accompanies an episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast featuring an interview with the author, Ammar Azzouz. The Israeli bombardment of Gaza following the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7 has forced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians out of their homes. At least 43% of all housing units in the Gaza Strip have been either destroyed or damaged since the start of the hostilities, according to the Ministry of Public Works and Housing in Gaza. Continued here

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A red card could ruin the Rugby World Cup final - the game needs fairer, safer rulings on the field     In the 46th minute of the 2023 Rugby World Cup (RWC) pool match between contenders France and pretenders Namibia, with the rampaging Europeans ahead by a thumping 54 points to nil, the wilting Welwitschias forfeited a player to a yellow card. Within eight minutes, the card had bled to red. The mismatch worsened. Close to the final whistle, with France now up 96-0, the Namibian desert turned yellower still. Now 15 cats chased 13 mice for the dying embers of a farce. Continued here

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How organizations can address toxic workplace cultures to tackle sexual harassment     Sexual harassment continues to be a problem in Canadian workplaces, and organizations are not doing enough to address it. A 2022 report by the Canadian Labour Congress indicates nearly one in two workers have experienced sexual harassment in the previous two years.A large part of the problem is how the issue is being viewed. Sexual harassment is a human rights violation, yet too often it is framed as an interpersonal issue. As a result, organizations adopt solutions aimed at addressing individual behaviours, like building out reporting mechanisms or beefing up reprimands. Solutions that frequently fail. Punishing harassers is important, but only doing that means we only remedy sexual harassment one offender at a time. Continued here

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Most data lives in the cloud. What if it lived under the sea?     Where is the text you’re reading, right now? In one sense, it lives “on the internet” or “in the cloud”, just like your favourite social media platform or the TV show you might stream tonight.But in a physical sense, it’s stored and transmitted somewhere in a network of thousands of data centres across the globe. Each of these centres is whirring, buzzing and beeping around the clock, to store, process and communicate vast amounts of data and provide services to hungry consumers. Continued here

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Solar power expected to dominate electricity generation by 2050 - even without more ambitious climate policies     In pursuit of the ambitious goal of reaching net-zero emissions, nations worldwide must expand their use of clean energy sources. In the case of solar energy, this change may already be upon us.The cost of electricity from solar plants has experienced a remarkable reduction over the past decade, falling by 89% from 2010 to 2022. Batteries, which are essential for balancing solar energy supply throughout the day and night, have also undergone a similar price revolution, decreasing by the same amount between 2008 and 2022. Continued here

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'Alan Wake 2' Is a Huge Step Forward for Remedy -- And the Entire Horror Genre     There was an unsettling sense of dread as I stalked the streets of a twisted New York. Never sure which shadows could turn into enemies and which were harmless, I’d simply have to be ready to fight at any moment.Alan Wake 2 is a survival horror game unlike anything else out there, equal parts surreal, wonderful, horrific, and gripping. It’s a slow-burn, True Detective-style story with a supernatural twist that weaves layers of mystery and intrigue infused with intense action and horror. But the game’s defining feature is its dual-protagonist narrative, in which two parallel stories come together to reveal a groundbreaking work of interactive entertainment. Continued here

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Why the Israel-Gaza conflict is so hard to talk about     With the intensification of war in the Middle East, comes an intense polarization within our institutions. A historian whose family was taken hostage by Hamas, and a geographer with family in the West Bank, get together to discuss a way forward. It’s hard to escape the horrific images coming out of the Middle East. And it’s excruciating to take it all in. Continued here

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What Is the Core of Mars Made Of? Scientists Made a Surprising Discovery     Planet formation is a little like making a cake. If you haven't yet added an emulsifier, you will find that the liquids and fats separate in the bowl. Something like this happened when big celestial bodies in our Solar System were forming billions of years ago. Scientists now think Mars was once covered in a global magma ocean, and eventually, gravity began to separate the different stuff within this gooey ultra-hot blob into layers.Data from NASA’s Mars InSight mission suggests that its center is more decadent than expected. Rather than one single, sizable liquid iron core, there’s evidence that it's much smaller but topped with a coating of molten rock. Continued here

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Discover 6 fascinating animals that live at the bottom of the St. Lawrence River     Professionnelle de recherche, biologie marine & écologie benthique, Université Laval Cindy Grant is a member of the Québec-Océan strategic group and of the Unité Mixte Internationale Takuvik. Continued here

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Back in the 1960s, the push for parental rights over school standards was not led by white conservatives but by Black and Latino parents     A key issue underlying the 2023 Virginia election first drew statewide – and national – attention in a debate two years ago.During a 2021 Virginia gubernatorial debate, Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe made a critical mistake that led to his defeat by GOP challenger Glenn Youngkin. Continued here

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Ukraine recap: future of US support for Kyiv in question as Israel conflict reshapes Washington's priorities     As Thomas Gift, the director of the Centre on US Politics at UCL spells out, Johnson’s cooperation will be vital if Biden is to get his latest US$105 billion (£86.5 billion) national security aid package through Congress. More than$60 billion of that is earmarked for Ukraine and if it doesn’t come through, Kyiv will struggle.Of course, Washington has other fish to fry. Whether you can call the Israel-Hamas war a “bigger fish” remains unclear. Only $14 billion has been earmarked to go to Israel so far. But for most people in the US events in Israel and Gaza are seen as being of the highest importance. Israel has replaced Ukraine as the lead story on most news channels and knocked the European war off the front pages. With Donald Trump relentlessly demanding a moratorium on aid to Ukraine, Kyiv has clear grounds for concern as its counteroffensive grinds on in the south with still no end to the killing in sight. Continued here

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How do stimulants actually work to reduce ADHD symptoms?     Stimulants are first-line drugs for children and adults diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). But how do they actually work?Medical imaging indicates people with ADHD may have slight differences in their brain’s structure, the way their brain regions work together to perform tasks, and how their brain’s chemical messengers, called neurotransmitters, pass on information. Continued here

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Global university rankings now include social impact: African universities are off to a strong start     Chair in Entrepreneurship, Leeds University Business School, University of Leeds World university rankings are released towards the end of each year. Institutions globally scramble to see how they have fared. Have they risen or fallen? If so, by how much and in which rankings? Have they maintained their position in an increasingly competitive global higher education landscape? Continued here

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Despite its inflammatory rhetoric, Iran is unlikely to attack Israel. Here's why     Convenor of the Middle East Studies Forum (MESF), and Deputy Director (International) at the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University, Deakin University Iran has warned Israel of severe consequences from “multiple fronts” if it does not halt its relentless bombardment of the Gaza Strip. Continued here

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Energy bills: how households could feel the cold this winter     As winter starts to bite, you may be starting to worry again about how much you will have to pay for your gas and electricity over the coming months. Of course, energy isn’t the only rising cost in the current inflation-led economy, which has caused most households to see a decline in disposable income since last winter.Compounding this, even if energy prices are lower this winter than last, some households will struggle to pay their energy bills because they are still carrying significant energy debts. Continued here

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Friday essay: the secret lives of Ian Fleming and John Le Carr     In 2022, writer Suleika Dawson published an intimate, refreshingly candid first-hand account of her passionate extramarital affair with David Cornwell – who worked as an intelligence agent for MI5 and MI6 in the 1950s and early 1960s, and wrote spy novels using the pseudonym John le Carré.Dawson and Cornwell first crossed paths in September 1982. Dawson, who had recently graduated with a degree in English Literature and Language from the University of Oxford, had a job abridging novels for an audiobook firm in London. Continued here

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Growing your own food and foraging can help tackle your ballooning grocery bill. Here's how     Up to 3.7 million Australian households have been hit by food insecurity this year – many for the first time. Of these households, four in five say the reason is the rising cost of living, as interest rate rises and many other cost increases force them to make unwelcome trade-offs – such as food. Continued here

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Bringing a shark to a knife fight: 7,000-year-old shark-tooth knives discovered in Indonesia     Excavations on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi have uncovered two unique and deadly artefacts dating back some 7,000 years – tiger shark teeth that were used as blades.These finds, reported in the journal Antiquity, are some of the earliest archaeological evidence globally for the use of shark teeth in composite weapons – weapons made with multiple parts. Until now, the oldest such shark-tooth blades found were less than 5,000 years old. Continued here

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As the Israel-Gaza crisis worsens and the UN remains impotent, what are NZ's diplomatic options?     Global security involves managing a complex combination of law, ethics and politics. No situation exemplifies this more than what is happening now in Israel and Gaza.When United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres coupled an unequivocal condemnation of the October 7 Hamas terror attacks with the observation that they “did not happen in a vacuum”, Israel was quick to react. Continued here

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Deepfakes in warfare: new concerns emerge from their use around the Russian invasion of Ukraine     Visitors to a Ukrainian news website on the evening of February 18 2022, were greeted by a familiar sight, a video of their president giving a speech. While the resemblance was there, the face seemed slightly out of sync with the head of the Ukrainian president. In the video, Volodymyr Zelensky announced that the war was over, a fact that the majority of Ukrainian people knew was false. It was a deepfake video. While this was happening online, the ticker at the bottom of the screen on the channel’s live television feed read the same message. It claimed – again, falsely – that Ukraine was surrendering. Continued here

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How the world might look if animals had legal rights     Let’s picture what our societies might look like if animals were granted rights against being killed, made to suffer or exploited for human gain.When activists argue for animal rights, they ask us to imagine a different world. First, we need to understand how our lives are shaped by animals’ lack of rights. Continued here

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The 10 Best EV Concepts From Japan Mobility Show 2023     Wild electric concept cars from Toyota, Nissan, and Honda are setting the groundwork for Japan's EV future.Japan's automakers may be behind the curve when it comes to production EVs you can buy right this minute, but if Japan Mobility Show 2023 is any indication, they aren't behind in their vibrant imaginings for the electrified future. Continued here

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Chimps and Humans Have This Rare Reproductive Trait in Common     Menopause is one of nature’s greatest evolutionary mysteries. From a survivalist standpoint, there’s no advantage to a species for an individual to continue living beyond reproductive years. Menopausal individuals theoretically use up precious resources that could go to more reproducing members or their young. (Yikes, brutal.) In fact, most other mammals can reproduce their entire lifespan. Elephants can reproduce into their 60s, and baleen whales into their 90s.Humans are part of a privileged few (including some toothed whales) that cease menstruation and carry on living. Continued here

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Are Pet Cloners Happy With Their Choice?     You can replicate an animal’s DNA, but you can’t re-create its relationship with a human.I met Princess Ariel and Princess Jasmine on a sunny afternoon at a park in Garden City, New York. The two dogs—both creamy-colored shih tzu mutts with spots on their backs—were lying next to each other on the grass, front legs extended, tongues hanging out. Every so often, they’d both look off to the side at the same moment—then turn their heads back again simultaneously. When two excited little girls came over to pet them, the dogs’ owner—John Mendola, a retired police officer—made pleasant small talk with the girls’ parents. Eventually, though, he shared something that made them raise their eyebrows in surprise: The dogs were not only twins but twin clones, spawned from the DNA of his late dog, Princess. Continued here