Showing posts with label news. Show all posts
Showing posts with label news. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 18, 2026
"The myth that women are more naturally empathetic than men" from BBC Future
I found this article fascinating--and hopeful, showing that empathy is innate and available to all.
"The myth that women are more naturally empathetic than men"
by Melissa Hogenboom* | BBC Future
February 15, 2026
Scientific research is up-ending age-old gender stereotypes about empathy – and revealing new ways of thinking about masculinity.
When women achieve great things, it was erroneously supposed that "they were not Women who did those Great Actions, but that they were Men in Petticoats!", the philosopher Mary Astell wrote in 1705. Even Queen Elizabeth I once famously said that she'd rule the country like a king, despite having the body of a "feeble woman" – as if ruling had to be a masculine path.
While these anecdotes are from the past, subtle gendered biases of what it means to be a successful, powerful individual still permeate.
Notably, we still typically describe traits like empathy as naturally feminine and traits like dominance and assertiveness as masculine. Even when displaying the same behaviour, men are seen as assertive and women as aggressive.
One particularly notable trait that is often gendered in this way is empathy. Women supposedly are natural empaths while men who show more empathy are typically seen as weak.
But why is that? Is it true that women are naturally more empathetic than men, or are we socialised to be?
Gender stereotypes like these have clear consequences on how we raise our children, workplace culture and leadership. But what's less visible is how early these biases start, and the fact that stereotypes reinforce our expectations – imposing significant constraints on how we expect others to behave.
The hormones behind empathy
Empathy involves both the ability to understand others' thoughts and feelings, allowing us to respond appropriately. It can also be thought of in terms of cognitive empathy – our ability to recognise emotions and take other perspectives – and affective or emotional empathy, where we have an emotional response to someone's thoughts and feelings.
Scientists use a variety of methods to empirically measure empathy, including questionnaires and experiential tasks.
And it's long been found that, on average, women tend to consistently score higher than men.
Simon Baron-Cohen, a clinical psychologist at Cambridge University, argues that it is because the female brain is "predominantly hard-wired for empathy", which makes women especially suited for caring roles, while the male brain is "predominantly hard-wired for understanding and building systems".
While social factors clearly influence empathy, says Baron-Cohen, his work suggests that hormone exposure in the womb plays a role in social development.
His 2006 study of over 200 children aged 6-9 found that testosterone levels in the amniotic fluid during pregnancy – which are higher in males than in females – are directly correlated with how the children performed on cognitive tests on systemising, defined as the ability to analyse rules or patterns. Indeed, testosterone exposure in the womb was a stronger predictor of a child's test scores than their sex alone.
A similar 2007 study also showed that foetal exposure to testosterone was inversely correlated with empathy test scores.
"What's clear is that something like empathy or systemising are a complex mix of biology and social factors," says Baron-Cohen.
Is empathy in the genes?
Many other researchers, such as neuroscientist Gina Rippon, find this hormonal theory problematic. "The idea that all women are naturally more empathic is part of the persistence of the so-called 'female brain myth'," she says. We also must remember, says Rippon, that young children's brains are "hugely responsive to outside influences".
In one seminal study that found gender differences in empathy tasks, the differences were not large: women were more empathetic in 36 of the 57 countries studied, but in 21 countries the scores were very similar, and the authors stated that they "cannot determine causation".
And though women do score slightly higher than average on empathy studies, the range of variation within genders is much greater than between them. "If you look at the spread of the empathy scores within the male and female populations, it's huge," says Rippon.
Girls and women are often said to be more attuned to the faces of others, an important skillset needed for empathy, but results are mixed, and recent research suggests this preference is not something they are born with. A meta-analysis published in 2025 examined 31 studies featuring 40 separate experiments on how one-month-old girls and boys observed others' faces, if they cried when others cried and how alert they were to those surrounding them. In all these measures, no matter the sex, the infants did not differ in their social awareness and keenness in understanding others' emotions.
Indeed, a 2018 large-scale genetic study of empathy involving over 46,000 participants who completed a questionnaire and submitted DNA samples, suggested that genes do play a role in how empathetic a person is. But none of these genes are associated with a person's sex.
Varun Warrier, an assistant professor of neurodevelopmental research at Cambridge University and author of the study, explained at the time that "since only a tenth of the variation in the degree of empathy between individuals is down to genetics, it is equally important to understand the non-genetic factors". This means that the environment in which someone grows up and lives must be playing a role.
The socialisation of empathy
Women tend to display empathetic traits more, not because they are innate, many scientists argue, but because girls and women are socialised to act on their emotions and to prioritise the needs of others from an extremely young age. Girls are also often presented with toys that emphasise softer, more nurturing skills, while boys are encouraged to play with toy tools and cars.
"Little girls are told to be nice and not to be unkind and rough, so it gradually becomes part of who they are," says Rippon.
Many studies have similarly shown that power distorts our empathy and inhibits people from feeling it. In my book Breadwinners, I outline the argument that, as men have historically had more power than women – and continue to do so in business and politics – they are therefore more likely to experience less empathy.
One study found that individuals who perceived themselves as having "lower subjective rank, lower income and belonging to cultural groups associated with the lower class" were better at reading the emotions of others, for instance. That women score higher on empathy could therefore stem from a need to be highly perceptive to those in power, coupled with their own relative lack of power.
Empathy is a malleable trait
Crucially, empathy can be learned, according to Nathan Spreng, a neurologist at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. "Once we understand this idea of a range of emotional experience, we can focus on it and learn what other people's emotions are, and improve our empathy," Spreng said on the BBC's The Documentary Podcast. "It's not static, it's a dynamic thing across the lifespan."
A 2023 neurological study clearly shows that both women's and men's brain waves respond in much the same way when shown images of painful or neutral facial expressions. But in the part of the experiment where participants completed empathy questionnaires rating how empathetic they felt, men scored lower than women did on average. That is, unless they were told beforehand that they'd score well.
In the group of men who were primed with information suggesting that men are also naturally "good at sharing and caring for the feelings of others", the gender differences in how empathetic they felt disappeared.
Not only do these findings suggest that self-reported empathy experiments are hard to untangle from a slew of personal and social biases, but they also further support the hypothesis that a person's expectations and motivations play a major role in their empathy.
Women "tend to come out as more empathic when they know their empathy levels are being assessed", says Rippon, of experiments like these. "It's a socially acceptable trait, so they want to score highly."
One study found that women only outperformed men on a task asking them to accurately infer someone else's feelings when they were first asked to reflect on how they felt. If they weren't nudged in this way, there was no observed gender gap. And when researchers offered participants money to infer others' feelings accurately, empathic accuracy improved for both genders. Participants easily learned to be empathetic because there was a reward for doing so.
Sara Hodges, a psychologist at the University of Oregon and co-author of this study, proposes that women may show improved empathic accuracy not due to an innate ability, but because they are more motivated to do so by societal expectations.
Rather than viewing empathy as a fixed trait we should see it as a process that draws upon multiple sources of information, including body language, speech, stereotypes, personal experiences and past interactions, according to Hodges. "When people are more motivated to know what someone is thinking or feeling, they recruit more sources for constructing that," says Hodges.
The dire consequences of the empathy bias
What is less talked about, says Hodges, is that empathy isn't just a soft skill used for good – it can also be used to manipulate others or exploit people. "For example, in negotiation, if you know the other person's bottom line, you're a better negotiator," says Hodges.
But ultimately, the consequences of expectations surrounding empathy and the like can contribute to inequality in society and have dire consequences for both women and men.
Women are judged as less likely to have leadership potential than men because we tend to see leaders as needing to be dominant and assertive, traits typically associated with masculinity.
But when it comes to loneliness, women are more likely to seek support from their social network than men. Social isolation, instead, is a known risk factor for attempting suicide, the rate of which is much higher among men.
Fortunately, the narrative about the importance of emotional skills among men and women is slowly changing, including the importance of empathy towards others and caring responsibilities, according to Niall Hanlon, a sociologist from Technological University Dublin, in Ireland.
"Broadly speaking, men and boys are socialised to not see care in the way that women and girls do, that it's not part of the trajectory of being a man," says Hanlon. "They do imagine themselves to be fathers, but they don't expect that they will be in a primary caring position."
But society is already shifting to pave the way for more men to embrace caring responsibilities and be more outwardly empathetic. Men are spending more time with children than in the past, and they state they want to spend more time with their family (though women still do the bulk of flexible working and childcare).
The work being done to reframe men as more caring and empathetic will open the door to a new type of masculinity that could help prevent loneliness, says Hanlon – one that emphasises interdependence and empathy rather than autonomous, power-focused individuals.
"There's a lot of research that shows this is much better," says Hanlon. "For men, women and children."
* Melissa Hogenboom is a BBC health correspondent and author of the Breadwinners (2025) and The Motherhood Complex.
Link to original article:
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260213-are-women-naturally-more-empathetic-than-men
Wednesday, May 18, 2022
SEVENTY-FIVE PER CENT
From yesterday's New York Times' "The Morning" newsletter by wonderful journalist David Leonhardt, comes this piece examining the source of extremist violence. The percentage committed by right-wing extremists stands at a stomach-churning seventy-five per cent.
The Right's Violence Problem
‘Numbers don’t lie’
Over the past decade, the Anti-Defamation League has counted about 450 U.S. murders committed by political extremists.
Of these 450 killings, right-wing extremists committed about 75 percent. Islamic extremists were responsible for about 20 percent, and left-wing extremists were responsible for 4 percent.
Nearly half of the murders were specifically tied to white supremacists:
As this data shows, the American political right has a violence problem that has no equivalent on the left. And the 10 victims in Buffalo this past weekend are now part of this toll. “Right-wing extremist violence is our biggest threat,” Jonathan Greenblatt, the head of the ADL, has written. “The numbers don’t lie.”
The pattern extends to violence less severe than murder, like the Jan. 6 attack on Congress. It also extends to the language from some Republican politicians — including Donald Trump — and conservative media figures that treats violence as a legitimate form of political expression. A much larger number of Republican officials do not use this language but also do not denounce it or punish politicians who do use it; Kevin McCarthy, the top House Republican, is a leading example.
It’s important to emphasize that not all extremist violence comes from the right — and that the precise explanation for any one attack can be murky, involving a mixture of ideology, mental illness, gun access and more. In the immediate aftermath of an attack, people are sometimes too quick to claim a direct cause and effect. But it is also incorrect to pretend that right-wing violence and left-wing violence are equivalent problems.
Fears in Washington
If you talk to members of Congress and their aides these days — especially off the record — you will often hear them mention their fears of violence being committed against them.
Some Republican members of Congress have said that they were reluctant to vote for Trump’s impeachment or conviction partly because of the threats against other members who had already denounced him. House Republicans who voted for President Biden’s infrastructure bill also received threats. Democrats say their offices receive a spike in phone calls and online messages threatening violence after they are criticized on conservative social media or cable television shows.
People who oversee elections report similar problems. “One in six election officials have experienced threats because of their job,” the Brennan Center, a research group, reported this year. “Ranging from death threats that name officials’ young children to racist and gendered harassment, these attacks have forced election officials across the country to take steps like hiring personal security, fleeing their homes, and putting their children into counseling.”
There is often overlap between these violent threats and white supremacist beliefs. White supremacy tends to treat people of color as un-American or even less than fully human, views that can make violence seem justifiable. The suspect in the Buffalo massacre evidently posted an online manifesto that discussed replacement theory, a racial conspiracy theory that Tucker Carlson promotes on his Fox News show.
(This Times story examines how replacement theory has entered the Republican mainstream.)
“History has taught us that what begins with words ends in far worse,” Representative Liz Cheney, one of the few Republicans who have repeatedly and consistently denounced violence and talk of violence from the right, wrote on Twitter yesterday. “The House GOP leadership has enabled white nationalism, white supremacy, and antisemitism,” Cheney wrote, and called on Republican leaders to “renounce and reject these views and those who hold them.”
A few other Republicans, like Senator Mitt Romney, have taken a similar stance. But many other prominent Republicans have taken a more neutral stance or even embraced talk of violence.
Some have spoken openly about violence as a legitimate political tool — and not just Trump, who has done so frequently.
At the rally that preceded the Jan. 6 attack, Representative Mo Brooks suggested the crowd should “start taking down names and kicking ass.” Before she was elected to Congress, Marjorie Taylor Greene supported the idea of executing Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats. Representative Paul Gosar once posted an animated video altered to depict himself killing Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and swinging swords at Biden.
Rick Perry, a former Texas governor, once called the Federal Reserve “treasonous” and talked about treating its chairman “pretty ugly.” During Greg Gianforte’s campaign for Montana’s House seat, he went so far as to assault a reporter who asked him a question he didn’t like; Gianforte won and has since become Montana’s governor.
These Republicans have received no meaningful sanction from their party. McCarthy, the Republican leader in the House, has been especially solicitous of Brooks and other members who use violent imagery.
This Republican comfort with violence is new. Republican leaders from past decades, like Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole, Howard Baker and the Bushes, did not evoke violence.
“In a stable democracy,” Steven Levitsky, a Harvard political scientist, told me, “politicians unambiguously reject violence and unambiguously expel from their ranks antidemocratic forces.”
Link to original article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/17/briefing/right-wing-mass-shootings.html
‘Numbers don’t lie’
Over the past decade, the Anti-Defamation League has counted about 450 U.S. murders committed by political extremists.
Of these 450 killings, right-wing extremists committed about 75 percent. Islamic extremists were responsible for about 20 percent, and left-wing extremists were responsible for 4 percent.
Nearly half of the murders were specifically tied to white supremacists:
As this data shows, the American political right has a violence problem that has no equivalent on the left. And the 10 victims in Buffalo this past weekend are now part of this toll. “Right-wing extremist violence is our biggest threat,” Jonathan Greenblatt, the head of the ADL, has written. “The numbers don’t lie.”
The pattern extends to violence less severe than murder, like the Jan. 6 attack on Congress. It also extends to the language from some Republican politicians — including Donald Trump — and conservative media figures that treats violence as a legitimate form of political expression. A much larger number of Republican officials do not use this language but also do not denounce it or punish politicians who do use it; Kevin McCarthy, the top House Republican, is a leading example.
It’s important to emphasize that not all extremist violence comes from the right — and that the precise explanation for any one attack can be murky, involving a mixture of ideology, mental illness, gun access and more. In the immediate aftermath of an attack, people are sometimes too quick to claim a direct cause and effect. But it is also incorrect to pretend that right-wing violence and left-wing violence are equivalent problems.
Fears in Washington
If you talk to members of Congress and their aides these days — especially off the record — you will often hear them mention their fears of violence being committed against them.
Some Republican members of Congress have said that they were reluctant to vote for Trump’s impeachment or conviction partly because of the threats against other members who had already denounced him. House Republicans who voted for President Biden’s infrastructure bill also received threats. Democrats say their offices receive a spike in phone calls and online messages threatening violence after they are criticized on conservative social media or cable television shows.
People who oversee elections report similar problems. “One in six election officials have experienced threats because of their job,” the Brennan Center, a research group, reported this year. “Ranging from death threats that name officials’ young children to racist and gendered harassment, these attacks have forced election officials across the country to take steps like hiring personal security, fleeing their homes, and putting their children into counseling.”
There is often overlap between these violent threats and white supremacist beliefs. White supremacy tends to treat people of color as un-American or even less than fully human, views that can make violence seem justifiable. The suspect in the Buffalo massacre evidently posted an online manifesto that discussed replacement theory, a racial conspiracy theory that Tucker Carlson promotes on his Fox News show.
(This Times story examines how replacement theory has entered the Republican mainstream.)
“History has taught us that what begins with words ends in far worse,” Representative Liz Cheney, one of the few Republicans who have repeatedly and consistently denounced violence and talk of violence from the right, wrote on Twitter yesterday. “The House GOP leadership has enabled white nationalism, white supremacy, and antisemitism,” Cheney wrote, and called on Republican leaders to “renounce and reject these views and those who hold them.”
A few other Republicans, like Senator Mitt Romney, have taken a similar stance. But many other prominent Republicans have taken a more neutral stance or even embraced talk of violence.
Some have spoken openly about violence as a legitimate political tool — and not just Trump, who has done so frequently.
At the rally that preceded the Jan. 6 attack, Representative Mo Brooks suggested the crowd should “start taking down names and kicking ass.” Before she was elected to Congress, Marjorie Taylor Greene supported the idea of executing Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats. Representative Paul Gosar once posted an animated video altered to depict himself killing Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and swinging swords at Biden.
Rick Perry, a former Texas governor, once called the Federal Reserve “treasonous” and talked about treating its chairman “pretty ugly.” During Greg Gianforte’s campaign for Montana’s House seat, he went so far as to assault a reporter who asked him a question he didn’t like; Gianforte won and has since become Montana’s governor.
These Republicans have received no meaningful sanction from their party. McCarthy, the Republican leader in the House, has been especially solicitous of Brooks and other members who use violent imagery.
This Republican comfort with violence is new. Republican leaders from past decades, like Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole, Howard Baker and the Bushes, did not evoke violence.
“In a stable democracy,” Steven Levitsky, a Harvard political scientist, told me, “politicians unambiguously reject violence and unambiguously expel from their ranks antidemocratic forces.”
Link to original article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/17/briefing/right-wing-mass-shootings.html
Thursday, March 3, 2022
Life may actually flash before your eyes on death by Holly Honderich
I don't know if you caught this recent little news item (it probably got buried because of the start of WW III)...it has fascinating implications.
Life may actually flash before your eyes on death - new study
By Holly Honderich
BBC News, Washington
New data from a scientific "accident" has suggested that life may actually flash before our eyes as we die.
A team of scientists set out to measure the brainwaves of an 87-year-old patient who had developed epilepsy. But during the neurological recording, he suffered a fatal heart attack - offering an unexpected recording of a dying brain.
It revealed that in the 30 seconds before and after, the man's brainwaves followed the same patterns as dreaming or recalling memories.
Brain activity of this sort could suggest that a final "recall of life" may occur in a person's last moments, the team wrote in their study, published in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience on Tuesday.
Dr Ajmal Zemmar, a co-author of the study, said that what the team, then based in Vancouver, Canada, accidentally got, was the first-ever recording of a dying brain.
He told the BBC: "This was actually totally by chance, we did not plan to do this experiment or record these signals."
So will we get a glimpse back at time with loved ones and other happy memories? Dr Zemmar said it was impossible to tell.
"If I were to jump to the philosophical realm, I would speculate that if the brain did a flashback, it would probably like to remind you of good things, rather than the bad things," he said.
"But what's memorable would be different for every person."
Dr Zemmar, now a neurosurgeon at the University of Louisville, said in the 30 seconds before the patient's heart stopped supplying blood to the brain, his brainwaves followed the same patterns as when we carry out high-cognitive demanding tasks, like concentrating, dreaming or recalling memories.
It continued 30 seconds after the patient's heart stopped beating - the point at which a patient is typically declared dead.
"This could possibly be a last recall of memories that we've experienced in life, and they replay through our brain in the last seconds before we die."
The study also raises questions about when, exactly, life ends - when the heart stops beating, or the brain stops functioning.
Dr Zemmar and his team have cautioned that broad conclusions can't be drawn from a study of one. The fact that the patient was epileptic, with a bleeding and swollen brain, complicates things further.
"I never felt comfortable to report one case," Dr Zemmar said. And for years after the initial recording in 2016, he looked for similar cases to help strengthen the analysis but was unsuccessful.
But a 2013 study - carried out on healthy rats - may offer a clue.
In that analysis, US researchers reported high levels of brainwaves at the point of the death until 30 seconds after the rats' hearts stopped beating - just like the findings found in Dr Zemmar's epileptic patient.
The similarities between studies are "astonishing", Dr Zemmar said.
They now hope the publication of this one human case may open the door to other studies on the final moments of life.
"I think there's something mystical and spiritual about this whole near-death experience," Dr Zemmar said. "And findings like this - it's a moment that scientists lives for."
Link to original article:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-60495730
Life may actually flash before your eyes on death - new study
By Holly Honderich
BBC News, Washington
New data from a scientific "accident" has suggested that life may actually flash before our eyes as we die.
A team of scientists set out to measure the brainwaves of an 87-year-old patient who had developed epilepsy. But during the neurological recording, he suffered a fatal heart attack - offering an unexpected recording of a dying brain.
It revealed that in the 30 seconds before and after, the man's brainwaves followed the same patterns as dreaming or recalling memories.
Brain activity of this sort could suggest that a final "recall of life" may occur in a person's last moments, the team wrote in their study, published in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience on Tuesday.
Dr Ajmal Zemmar, a co-author of the study, said that what the team, then based in Vancouver, Canada, accidentally got, was the first-ever recording of a dying brain.
He told the BBC: "This was actually totally by chance, we did not plan to do this experiment or record these signals."
So will we get a glimpse back at time with loved ones and other happy memories? Dr Zemmar said it was impossible to tell.
"If I were to jump to the philosophical realm, I would speculate that if the brain did a flashback, it would probably like to remind you of good things, rather than the bad things," he said.
"But what's memorable would be different for every person."
Dr Zemmar, now a neurosurgeon at the University of Louisville, said in the 30 seconds before the patient's heart stopped supplying blood to the brain, his brainwaves followed the same patterns as when we carry out high-cognitive demanding tasks, like concentrating, dreaming or recalling memories.
It continued 30 seconds after the patient's heart stopped beating - the point at which a patient is typically declared dead.
"This could possibly be a last recall of memories that we've experienced in life, and they replay through our brain in the last seconds before we die."
The study also raises questions about when, exactly, life ends - when the heart stops beating, or the brain stops functioning.
Dr Zemmar and his team have cautioned that broad conclusions can't be drawn from a study of one. The fact that the patient was epileptic, with a bleeding and swollen brain, complicates things further.
"I never felt comfortable to report one case," Dr Zemmar said. And for years after the initial recording in 2016, he looked for similar cases to help strengthen the analysis but was unsuccessful.
But a 2013 study - carried out on healthy rats - may offer a clue.
In that analysis, US researchers reported high levels of brainwaves at the point of the death until 30 seconds after the rats' hearts stopped beating - just like the findings found in Dr Zemmar's epileptic patient.
The similarities between studies are "astonishing", Dr Zemmar said.
They now hope the publication of this one human case may open the door to other studies on the final moments of life.
"I think there's something mystical and spiritual about this whole near-death experience," Dr Zemmar said. "And findings like this - it's a moment that scientists lives for."
Link to original article:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-60495730
Monday, August 17, 2020
Absentee ballots don't need to be returned through the mail. Here are other options.
This is very valuable information. Please pass it along to all who might need to know this. As long as the Fascist-in-Chief is trying to actively PREVENT people from voting by sabotaging the postal service, there ARE other ways to get your ballot counted. If you are worried about COVID and do not want to or cannot vote in person on voting day perhaps for a reason other than COVID, there are other places you can drop off your ballot BEFORE the election. Here in California, in addition to numerous drop boxes in my county, I can return my ballot anytime before election day to my county clerk's office. Some states even allow a proxy to drop it off for you. Read below to find out more! Don't let the Monster thwart your vote for Biden.
Absentee ballots don't need to be returned through the mail. Here are other options.
BY SOPHIE LEWIS
AUGUST 15, 2020 / 12:59 PM / CBS NEWS
As the United States Postal Service faces a financial crisis and nationwide in-person voting seems less and less likely due to the coronavirus pandemic, voters around the country are concerned that their votes will be compromised. But absentee ballots do not need to be returned through the mail — there are several other options to make sure your ballot arrives on time.
President Trump requested an absentee ballot himself, but his positions on funding USPS and voting-by-mail have been inconsistent. And on Friday, USPS warned 41 states that it may not be able to deliver all mail-in ballots on time.
According to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, casting a ballot using a voting machine at a polling place has declined steadily in popularity over the last several election cycles, with more voters choosing early voting, absentee voting and vote-by-mail. More than 50% of voters in 16 states cast their votes in one of these ways in 2016.
USPS is the only way to receive an absentee or mail-in ballot in most states. However, there are many ways to vote by mail that do not involve returning your ballots through USPS.
"In the states where election officials mail ballots to all registered voters, recent data shows the majority of those voters do not return their ballots in the mail," a 2017 EAC report stated. "They either drop them off at designated locations or at drop boxes."
Click here for up-to-date information on voting in your state during the pandemic.
- In-Person Early Voting
Forty states and the District of Columbia have some form of early voting in place, allowing voters to cast their ballot in person while avoiding crowds. Some states have even extended early voting due to the pandemic.
The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) website has information on early voting by state.
- Local Election Office or Polling Location
Almost all states allow voters to deliver their ballots in person at their local election office. To find a list of local election offices, you can search your state Board of Elections website or Secretary of State website.
However, many voters may not live close enough to return their ballot to a location election office. In this case, they may be able to instead return it to an alternative location.
According to the NCSL, eleven states and Washington D.C. allow voters to drop off ballots at any in-person voting locations in the county, including Arizona, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Kansas, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Utah and Washington.
Two states, New Hampshire and Vermont, allow voters to return their ballots to a polling place. In these cases, a voter must return their ballot to their assigned precinct polling place on Election Day.
Twenty-six states and the District of Columbia allow someone else to return ballots on behalf of voters. Communities can designate a single person to collect ballots for the community, keeping voters with higher risks of contracting coronavirus safe in their homes.
Ten states permit an absentee ballot to be returned by the voter's family member: Arizona, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio and Oklahoma.
In some states, the number of ballots a single person can collect may be limited. Check the NCSL website for details on ballot collection in each state.
Remember to wear a mask and maintain social distancing when delivering your ballot in person.
- Drop Boxes
Drop boxes — special containers for voters to drop off absentee ballots in sealed envelopes — have become more commonplace in the last decade, and are an efficient and secure way to return your ballot while entirely skipping the mail process. Those monitored by surveillance cameras are often available 24 hours per day, seven days per week, while others that are monitored by election workers have specified hours of operation.
Boxes are often placed in convenient and accessible locations, including city or county office buildings, libraries, college campuses, community centers and along public transit routes.
Eleven states — Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington — have ballot drop boxes set up in some or all counties, NCSL says.
The EAC recommends counties install one drop box for every 15,000 to 20,000 registered voters. It also advises that officials make the locations of these drop boxes publicly known 80 days before an election — which is Saturday, August 15.
The number of drop boxes varies widely by state. Michigan says that it has nearly 1,000 drop boxes ready to go ahead of the election, and Connecticut recently installed around 200 drop boxes just one month before its primary election.
But Ohio's Secretary of State Frank LaRose said this week that he is banning counties from adding any more drop boxes, saying its too close to the election to make new changes. Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett said his state does not allow drop boxes for fear voters may feel pressured by peers to vote a certain way.
In June, President Trump and the RNC sued election officials in Pennsylvania to prevent the state from using drop boxes. This week, a federal judge ordered them to provide evidence of vote-by-mail fraud in the state.
Typically, election officials need to receive absentee/mailed ballots by the time polls close on Election Day, November 3. Some states accept ballots received after this date if they were postmarked before the election.
Check with your local election office to figure out which option is best for you.
Link to original article:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/absentee-ballot-alternatives-usps-mail-in-voting-presidential-election/
Thank you CBS and journalist Sophie Lewis for getting this information out to the public in this age of lies and disinformation!
Absentee ballots don't need to be returned through the mail. Here are other options.
BY SOPHIE LEWIS
AUGUST 15, 2020 / 12:59 PM / CBS NEWS
As the United States Postal Service faces a financial crisis and nationwide in-person voting seems less and less likely due to the coronavirus pandemic, voters around the country are concerned that their votes will be compromised. But absentee ballots do not need to be returned through the mail — there are several other options to make sure your ballot arrives on time.
President Trump requested an absentee ballot himself, but his positions on funding USPS and voting-by-mail have been inconsistent. And on Friday, USPS warned 41 states that it may not be able to deliver all mail-in ballots on time.
According to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, casting a ballot using a voting machine at a polling place has declined steadily in popularity over the last several election cycles, with more voters choosing early voting, absentee voting and vote-by-mail. More than 50% of voters in 16 states cast their votes in one of these ways in 2016.
USPS is the only way to receive an absentee or mail-in ballot in most states. However, there are many ways to vote by mail that do not involve returning your ballots through USPS.
"In the states where election officials mail ballots to all registered voters, recent data shows the majority of those voters do not return their ballots in the mail," a 2017 EAC report stated. "They either drop them off at designated locations or at drop boxes."
Click here for up-to-date information on voting in your state during the pandemic.
- In-Person Early Voting
Forty states and the District of Columbia have some form of early voting in place, allowing voters to cast their ballot in person while avoiding crowds. Some states have even extended early voting due to the pandemic.
The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) website has information on early voting by state.
- Local Election Office or Polling Location
Almost all states allow voters to deliver their ballots in person at their local election office. To find a list of local election offices, you can search your state Board of Elections website or Secretary of State website.
However, many voters may not live close enough to return their ballot to a location election office. In this case, they may be able to instead return it to an alternative location.
According to the NCSL, eleven states and Washington D.C. allow voters to drop off ballots at any in-person voting locations in the county, including Arizona, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Kansas, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Utah and Washington.
Two states, New Hampshire and Vermont, allow voters to return their ballots to a polling place. In these cases, a voter must return their ballot to their assigned precinct polling place on Election Day.
Twenty-six states and the District of Columbia allow someone else to return ballots on behalf of voters. Communities can designate a single person to collect ballots for the community, keeping voters with higher risks of contracting coronavirus safe in their homes.
Ten states permit an absentee ballot to be returned by the voter's family member: Arizona, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio and Oklahoma.
In some states, the number of ballots a single person can collect may be limited. Check the NCSL website for details on ballot collection in each state.
Remember to wear a mask and maintain social distancing when delivering your ballot in person.
- Drop Boxes
Drop boxes — special containers for voters to drop off absentee ballots in sealed envelopes — have become more commonplace in the last decade, and are an efficient and secure way to return your ballot while entirely skipping the mail process. Those monitored by surveillance cameras are often available 24 hours per day, seven days per week, while others that are monitored by election workers have specified hours of operation.
Boxes are often placed in convenient and accessible locations, including city or county office buildings, libraries, college campuses, community centers and along public transit routes.
Eleven states — Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington — have ballot drop boxes set up in some or all counties, NCSL says.
The EAC recommends counties install one drop box for every 15,000 to 20,000 registered voters. It also advises that officials make the locations of these drop boxes publicly known 80 days before an election — which is Saturday, August 15.
The number of drop boxes varies widely by state. Michigan says that it has nearly 1,000 drop boxes ready to go ahead of the election, and Connecticut recently installed around 200 drop boxes just one month before its primary election.
But Ohio's Secretary of State Frank LaRose said this week that he is banning counties from adding any more drop boxes, saying its too close to the election to make new changes. Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett said his state does not allow drop boxes for fear voters may feel pressured by peers to vote a certain way.
In June, President Trump and the RNC sued election officials in Pennsylvania to prevent the state from using drop boxes. This week, a federal judge ordered them to provide evidence of vote-by-mail fraud in the state.
Typically, election officials need to receive absentee/mailed ballots by the time polls close on Election Day, November 3. Some states accept ballots received after this date if they were postmarked before the election.
Check with your local election office to figure out which option is best for you.
Link to original article:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/absentee-ballot-alternatives-usps-mail-in-voting-presidential-election/
Thank you CBS and journalist Sophie Lewis for getting this information out to the public in this age of lies and disinformation!
Monday, August 10, 2020
‘Friday Night Massacre’ at US Postal Service as Postmaster General — a Major Trump Donor — Ousts Top Officials
‘Friday Night Massacre’ at US Postal Service as Postmaster General — a Major Trump Donor — Ousts Top Officials
"America is in a dead sprint to authoritarianism. The man is pulling out all the stops to prevent the citizens of this country from holding a legitimate election in which he might face removal from office."
BY JON QUEALLY | AUGUST 8, 2020
Government watchdogs, Democratic lawmakers, and pro-democracy advocates declared it a “Friday Night Massacre” for the US Postal Service after news broke in a classic end-of-the-week dump that Louis DeJoy — a major GOP donor to President Donald Trump and the recently appointed Postmaster General — had issued a sweeping overhaul of the agency, including the ouster of top executives from key posts and the reshuffling of more than two dozen other officials and operational managers.
According to the Washington Post:
The shake-up came as congressional Democrats called for an investigation of DeJoy and the cost-cutting measures that have slowed mail delivery and ensnared ballots in recent primary elections.
Twenty-three postal executives were reassigned or displaced, the new organizational chart shows. Analysts say the structure centralizes power around DeJoy, a former logistics executive and major ally of President Trump, and de-emphasizes decades of institutional postal knowledge. All told, 33 staffers included in the old postal hierarchy either kept their jobs or were reassigned in the restructuring, with five more staffers joining the leadership from other roles.
Already under fire for recent policy changes at the USPS that mail carriers from within and outside critics have denounced as a sabotage effort to undermine the Postal Service broadly as well as disrupt efforts to carry out mail-in voting for November’s election amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the moves unveiled late Friday were viewed as an overt assault on democracy and a calculated opportunity to boost Republicans’ long-held dream of undercutting or privatizing the government-run mail service while also boosting their election prospects in the process.
“Another Friday night massacre by this administration — and this time dealing another devastating blow to our postal service,” said Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.) “The American people deserve answers and we’re going to keep fighting for them.”
Scanlon was among more than 80 congressional lawmakers who sent a letter to DeJoy earlier in the day expressing “deep concerns” about operational changes he has made for mail carriers that have delayed deliveries and lowered standards.
“It is vital that the US Postal Service not reduce mail delivery times, which could harm rural communities, seniors, small businesses, and millions of Americans who rely on the mail for critical letters and packages,” the letter stated. “Eliminating overtime and directing postal workers to leave mail on the floor of postal facilities will erode confidence in the Postal Service and drive customers away, resulting in even worse financial conditions in the future.”
Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, warned what occurred Friday is designed to weak the Postal Service, slow vote-by-mail, and disrupt the 2020 Census.
“We are sounding an alarm regarding personnel changes, policy shifts and service disruptions happening inside the US Postal Service on Louis DeJoy’s watch,” Clarke said in a statement. “The postal service lies at the heart of our democracy and is critical to the success of an unprecedented vote-by-mail system that is needed for a fair and effective 2020 election season. The postal service helps ensure that our nation’s most vulnerable communities are receiving medications and resources during the pandemic. It is also critical to the efforts to achieve a full and accurate 2020 Census.”
Clarke said the administration’s intentions are clear: “DeJoy, a Trump donor with no experience inside the postal service, has been installed to cause chaos and disruption at a time when the timely delivery of mail could not be more critical.”
As Common Dreams reported earlier Friday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren was among those who signed the letter and also called for DeJoy’s efforts to be investigated by the Inspector General of the USPS. Since 2016 alone, DeJoy has donated more than $2.5 million to the Republican Party and candidates. In 2020, prior to his appointment as Postmaster General by the GOP-controlled board of governors, DeJoy had already given approximately $360,000 to a Super PAC supporting Trump’s reelection.
As the Post notes in its reporting, the reshuffling of top managers and executives — as well as a hiring freeze and push for early retirements— “worried postal analysts, who say the tone of DeJoy’s first eight weeks and his restructuring have recast the nation’s mail service as a for-profit arm of the government, rather than an essential service.”
In a video posted to Twitter, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Oreg.) characterized DeJoy as a “political crony” of the president’s and also denounced the brazen efforts now on display as a “Friday Night Massacre” scenario:
Appearing Friday afternoon on Capitol Hill, DeJoy brushed off accusations that he is acting as a political bag man for Trump. “While I certainly have a good relationship with the president of the United States, the notion that I would ever make decisions concerning the Postal Service at the direction of the president or anyone else in the administration is wholly off-base,” DeJoy said.
But outside critics like Walter Shaub, former head of the Office of Government Ethics and a fierce critic of Trump’s behavior as president, said the latest move should be seen as nothing less than a direct effort by DeJoy to exploit his authority at the Postal Service to further the president’s political interests and reelection prospects.
According to Brian Tyler Cohen, a liberal commentator and podcast host, “Congressional Democrats need to do something about this” immediately.
“If we wait until October/November, it’ll be too late,” said Cohen. “Trump is actively sabotaging the election under our noses—this isn’t theoretical, it’s happening RIGHT NOW.” Cohen said this situation should be treated like a “f***ing five-alarm fire” and said action must be taken by both lawmakers and the US public without delay.
Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.), chair of the House subcommittee which has oversight for the USPS, said what DeJoy is trying to pass off as simple organizational restructuring is actually “a Trojan Horse” designed to destroy one of the nation’s most trusted and valued institutions from within.
Connolly on Friday night called it, “Deliberate sabotage to disrupt mail service on the eve of the election — an election that hinges on mail-in ballots.”
Link to original article at Bill Moyers On Democracy:
https://billmoyers.com/story/friday-night-massacre-at-us-postal-service-as-postmaster-general-a-major-trump-donor-ousts-top-officials/
"America is in a dead sprint to authoritarianism. The man is pulling out all the stops to prevent the citizens of this country from holding a legitimate election in which he might face removal from office."
BY JON QUEALLY | AUGUST 8, 2020
Government watchdogs, Democratic lawmakers, and pro-democracy advocates declared it a “Friday Night Massacre” for the US Postal Service after news broke in a classic end-of-the-week dump that Louis DeJoy — a major GOP donor to President Donald Trump and the recently appointed Postmaster General — had issued a sweeping overhaul of the agency, including the ouster of top executives from key posts and the reshuffling of more than two dozen other officials and operational managers.
According to the Washington Post:
The shake-up came as congressional Democrats called for an investigation of DeJoy and the cost-cutting measures that have slowed mail delivery and ensnared ballots in recent primary elections.
Twenty-three postal executives were reassigned or displaced, the new organizational chart shows. Analysts say the structure centralizes power around DeJoy, a former logistics executive and major ally of President Trump, and de-emphasizes decades of institutional postal knowledge. All told, 33 staffers included in the old postal hierarchy either kept their jobs or were reassigned in the restructuring, with five more staffers joining the leadership from other roles.
Already under fire for recent policy changes at the USPS that mail carriers from within and outside critics have denounced as a sabotage effort to undermine the Postal Service broadly as well as disrupt efforts to carry out mail-in voting for November’s election amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the moves unveiled late Friday were viewed as an overt assault on democracy and a calculated opportunity to boost Republicans’ long-held dream of undercutting or privatizing the government-run mail service while also boosting their election prospects in the process.
“Another Friday night massacre by this administration — and this time dealing another devastating blow to our postal service,” said Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.) “The American people deserve answers and we’re going to keep fighting for them.”
Scanlon was among more than 80 congressional lawmakers who sent a letter to DeJoy earlier in the day expressing “deep concerns” about operational changes he has made for mail carriers that have delayed deliveries and lowered standards.
“It is vital that the US Postal Service not reduce mail delivery times, which could harm rural communities, seniors, small businesses, and millions of Americans who rely on the mail for critical letters and packages,” the letter stated. “Eliminating overtime and directing postal workers to leave mail on the floor of postal facilities will erode confidence in the Postal Service and drive customers away, resulting in even worse financial conditions in the future.”
Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, warned what occurred Friday is designed to weak the Postal Service, slow vote-by-mail, and disrupt the 2020 Census.
“We are sounding an alarm regarding personnel changes, policy shifts and service disruptions happening inside the US Postal Service on Louis DeJoy’s watch,” Clarke said in a statement. “The postal service lies at the heart of our democracy and is critical to the success of an unprecedented vote-by-mail system that is needed for a fair and effective 2020 election season. The postal service helps ensure that our nation’s most vulnerable communities are receiving medications and resources during the pandemic. It is also critical to the efforts to achieve a full and accurate 2020 Census.”
Clarke said the administration’s intentions are clear: “DeJoy, a Trump donor with no experience inside the postal service, has been installed to cause chaos and disruption at a time when the timely delivery of mail could not be more critical.”
As Common Dreams reported earlier Friday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren was among those who signed the letter and also called for DeJoy’s efforts to be investigated by the Inspector General of the USPS. Since 2016 alone, DeJoy has donated more than $2.5 million to the Republican Party and candidates. In 2020, prior to his appointment as Postmaster General by the GOP-controlled board of governors, DeJoy had already given approximately $360,000 to a Super PAC supporting Trump’s reelection.
As the Post notes in its reporting, the reshuffling of top managers and executives — as well as a hiring freeze and push for early retirements— “worried postal analysts, who say the tone of DeJoy’s first eight weeks and his restructuring have recast the nation’s mail service as a for-profit arm of the government, rather than an essential service.”
In a video posted to Twitter, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Oreg.) characterized DeJoy as a “political crony” of the president’s and also denounced the brazen efforts now on display as a “Friday Night Massacre” scenario:
Appearing Friday afternoon on Capitol Hill, DeJoy brushed off accusations that he is acting as a political bag man for Trump. “While I certainly have a good relationship with the president of the United States, the notion that I would ever make decisions concerning the Postal Service at the direction of the president or anyone else in the administration is wholly off-base,” DeJoy said.
But outside critics like Walter Shaub, former head of the Office of Government Ethics and a fierce critic of Trump’s behavior as president, said the latest move should be seen as nothing less than a direct effort by DeJoy to exploit his authority at the Postal Service to further the president’s political interests and reelection prospects.
According to Brian Tyler Cohen, a liberal commentator and podcast host, “Congressional Democrats need to do something about this” immediately.
“If we wait until October/November, it’ll be too late,” said Cohen. “Trump is actively sabotaging the election under our noses—this isn’t theoretical, it’s happening RIGHT NOW.” Cohen said this situation should be treated like a “f***ing five-alarm fire” and said action must be taken by both lawmakers and the US public without delay.
Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.), chair of the House subcommittee which has oversight for the USPS, said what DeJoy is trying to pass off as simple organizational restructuring is actually “a Trojan Horse” designed to destroy one of the nation’s most trusted and valued institutions from within.
Connolly on Friday night called it, “Deliberate sabotage to disrupt mail service on the eve of the election — an election that hinges on mail-in ballots.”
Link to original article at Bill Moyers On Democracy:
https://billmoyers.com/story/friday-night-massacre-at-us-postal-service-as-postmaster-general-a-major-trump-donor-ousts-top-officials/
Sunday, May 21, 2017
BEAUTY: Object--Joseph Ernst for Sideline Collective
Oh, with the constant stream of disappointing and wholly expected criminal activity from the putrid Monster-In-Chief here in the United States, it would be such a joy to see nothing in the news...if he weren't there, if we had someone who could be trusted with the keys to the car, if we had someone who actually knows what the job entails and has ethics...oh, someday...
Joseph Ernst, an artist with Sideline Collective has created Nothing In The News. Their website explains:
"NOTHING IN THE NEWS: Newspapers from around the world with nothing in them.
We live in a world of constant sensory overload. 24 hours a day we are bombarded with information in real time by every media outlet and platform competing for our attention, one pop-up notification at a time.
And we play ball. We invest hours on end staring at our mobile devices. We want to know what’s going on, the why and the how. We need to know. But in our perpetual quest to fill every spare minute of our time searching for something meaningful, we learn nothing. We are so busy filling every waking moment with things to watch and do, and learn and listen to, that we have forgotten what it is like to just be. To sit around and think. To switch off and be bored. To daydream.
This project offers a little respite to all this information overload.
Yes, we live in particularly sensitive times. Times where the truth really matters, and where newspapers have a more important role to play in modern democracies than ever before. But for a society addicted to breaking news, gossip, and celebrity status, to Facestagram and Twapchat, the latest trends, and the top tens, to sports punditry, conspiracy theories, cat videos, and ridiculous amounts of porn ... for this cultural precipice, we offer the one thing you need more than anything else: “Nothing”. Absolutely nothing. Today, and today only, there is Nothing in the News. Enjoy it whilst you can.
Artist: Joseph Ernst. For stockist enquiries contact joseph@sidelinecollective.com"
If you'd like to own one of these serene newspapers, they are for sale via the Sideline Collective site. Just scroll down and click "BUY ONE."
https://sidelinecollective.com/nothinginthenews/
Joseph Ernst, an artist with Sideline Collective has created Nothing In The News. Their website explains:
"NOTHING IN THE NEWS: Newspapers from around the world with nothing in them.
We live in a world of constant sensory overload. 24 hours a day we are bombarded with information in real time by every media outlet and platform competing for our attention, one pop-up notification at a time.
And we play ball. We invest hours on end staring at our mobile devices. We want to know what’s going on, the why and the how. We need to know. But in our perpetual quest to fill every spare minute of our time searching for something meaningful, we learn nothing. We are so busy filling every waking moment with things to watch and do, and learn and listen to, that we have forgotten what it is like to just be. To sit around and think. To switch off and be bored. To daydream.
This project offers a little respite to all this information overload.
Yes, we live in particularly sensitive times. Times where the truth really matters, and where newspapers have a more important role to play in modern democracies than ever before. But for a society addicted to breaking news, gossip, and celebrity status, to Facestagram and Twapchat, the latest trends, and the top tens, to sports punditry, conspiracy theories, cat videos, and ridiculous amounts of porn ... for this cultural precipice, we offer the one thing you need more than anything else: “Nothing”. Absolutely nothing. Today, and today only, there is Nothing in the News. Enjoy it whilst you can.
Artist: Joseph Ernst. For stockist enquiries contact joseph@sidelinecollective.com"
If you'd like to own one of these serene newspapers, they are for sale via the Sideline Collective site. Just scroll down and click "BUY ONE."
https://sidelinecollective.com/nothinginthenews/
Friday, March 27, 2015
Dark Matter: Now Even Stranger Than Before!
Fascinating, important science news from BBC:
Dark matter 'ghosts' through galactic smash-ups
By Jonathan Webb
Science reporter, BBC News
By observing multiple collisions between huge clusters of galaxies, scientists have witnessed dark matter coasting straight through the turmoil.
Dark matter is the mysterious, invisible stuff that makes up 85% of the matter in the cosmos - and these results rule out several theoretical models put forward to explain it.
This is because it barely interacts with anything at all, including the dark matter in the oncoming galaxies.
The work appears in Science magazine.
To conduct their study, astrophysicists looked at 72 smash-ups between galactic clusters, using two space telescopes: visible light was recorded by the Hubble Space Telescope, and X-rays by the Chandra Observatory.
Scouring multiple views of the collisions, the researchers tracked the movement of the three main components of galaxies: stars, clouds of gas, and dark matter.
The violently swirling clouds of gas are hot enough to glow with X-rays, which Chandra detects. And stars can be seen in regular, visible-light images from Hubble.
Dark matter is more difficult to "see" - but not impossible. Although it does not emit or absorb light, it does have gravity, and so it bends the path of light passing nearby. This warps our view of anything on the other side of it, in an effect called "gravitational lensing".
"Looking through dark matter is like looking through a bathroom window," said Dr Richard Massey from Durham University, one of the study's authors. "All the objects that you can see in the distance appear slightly distorted and warped."
Using this distortion allowed Dr Massey, with colleagues from the University of Edinburgh, University College London and Switzerland's Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), to "map" the dark matter in the clusters as they collided.
Galaxy clusters are vast and contain huge amounts of dark matter, so when they collide - over billions of years - it offers a unique glimpse of how the stuff behaves.
"We like these collisions because it's exactly what we'd do in the lab," Dr Massey told BBC News.
"If you want to figure out what something is made out of, you knock it, or you throw it across the room and see where the bits go."
In this case, the bits went straight through each other.
Unlike the gas clouds, which grind to a turbulent halt, and the stars, which mostly glide past each other, the ubiquitous dark matter passes through everything and emerges unscathed, like a ghost.
"It seems not to interact with anything at all," Dr Massey said.
Earlier observations of the "Bullet Cluster" - a bust-up between two particularly big groups of galaxies, now in its final stages - had already demonstrated dark matter's weird lack of interactions, including with itself.
But this new, major survey was able to deliver much more precision, concluding that there was even less interaction than the previous work allowed for.
"If you bang your head against the wall, the electrostatic force between the molecules in your head and the ones in the wall cause a collision. This is what dark matter doesn't seem to feel," Dr Massey explained.
Dark matter does "feel" gravity; those interactions are the reason we know it is there, and the reason it is bound up in the galactic collisions to begin with. But the lack of almost any other interaction makes it even more mysterious than before.
Link to the original BBC article:
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-32066013
The original article in Science Magazine:
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/347/6229/1462
Dark matter 'ghosts' through galactic smash-ups
By Jonathan Webb
Science reporter, BBC News
By observing multiple collisions between huge clusters of galaxies, scientists have witnessed dark matter coasting straight through the turmoil.
Dark matter is the mysterious, invisible stuff that makes up 85% of the matter in the cosmos - and these results rule out several theoretical models put forward to explain it.
This is because it barely interacts with anything at all, including the dark matter in the oncoming galaxies.
The work appears in Science magazine.
To conduct their study, astrophysicists looked at 72 smash-ups between galactic clusters, using two space telescopes: visible light was recorded by the Hubble Space Telescope, and X-rays by the Chandra Observatory.
Scouring multiple views of the collisions, the researchers tracked the movement of the three main components of galaxies: stars, clouds of gas, and dark matter.
The violently swirling clouds of gas are hot enough to glow with X-rays, which Chandra detects. And stars can be seen in regular, visible-light images from Hubble.
Dark matter is more difficult to "see" - but not impossible. Although it does not emit or absorb light, it does have gravity, and so it bends the path of light passing nearby. This warps our view of anything on the other side of it, in an effect called "gravitational lensing".
"Looking through dark matter is like looking through a bathroom window," said Dr Richard Massey from Durham University, one of the study's authors. "All the objects that you can see in the distance appear slightly distorted and warped."
Using this distortion allowed Dr Massey, with colleagues from the University of Edinburgh, University College London and Switzerland's Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), to "map" the dark matter in the clusters as they collided.
Galaxy clusters are vast and contain huge amounts of dark matter, so when they collide - over billions of years - it offers a unique glimpse of how the stuff behaves.
"We like these collisions because it's exactly what we'd do in the lab," Dr Massey told BBC News.
"If you want to figure out what something is made out of, you knock it, or you throw it across the room and see where the bits go."
In this case, the bits went straight through each other.
Unlike the gas clouds, which grind to a turbulent halt, and the stars, which mostly glide past each other, the ubiquitous dark matter passes through everything and emerges unscathed, like a ghost.
"It seems not to interact with anything at all," Dr Massey said.
Earlier observations of the "Bullet Cluster" - a bust-up between two particularly big groups of galaxies, now in its final stages - had already demonstrated dark matter's weird lack of interactions, including with itself.
But this new, major survey was able to deliver much more precision, concluding that there was even less interaction than the previous work allowed for.
"If you bang your head against the wall, the electrostatic force between the molecules in your head and the ones in the wall cause a collision. This is what dark matter doesn't seem to feel," Dr Massey explained.
Dark matter does "feel" gravity; those interactions are the reason we know it is there, and the reason it is bound up in the galactic collisions to begin with. But the lack of almost any other interaction makes it even more mysterious than before.
Link to the original BBC article:
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-32066013
The original article in Science Magazine:
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/347/6229/1462
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
BEAUTY: Men--The Evolutionary Beard
A report from the BBC indicates that the cycle of popularity between clean shaven faces and bearded faces has an evolutionary root! Who knew?
Original scientific research published here.
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Proof of The Big Bang
A huge scientific breakthrough was announced yesterday. The twisting gravity waves from the Big Bang have been detected and seen for the first time! This is being hailed as Nobel worthy and will certainly add to the knowledge base for a Unified Theory of Everything! VERY exciting!
Cosmic inflation: 'Spectacular' discovery hailed
By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News
Scientists say they have extraordinary new evidence to support a Big Bang Theory for the origin of the Universe.
Researchers believe they have found the signal left in the sky by the super-rapid expansion of space that must have occurred just fractions of a second after everything came into being.
It takes the form of a distinctive twist in the oldest light detectable with telescopes.
The work will be scrutinised carefully, but already there is talk of a Nobel.
"This is spectacular," commented Prof Marc Kamionkowski, from Johns Hopkins University.
"I've seen the research; the arguments are persuasive, and the scientists involved are among the most careful and conservative people I know," he told BBC News.
The breakthrough was announced by an American team working on a project known as BICEP2.
This has been using a telescope at the South Pole to make detailed observations of a small patch of sky.
The aim has been to try to find a residual marker for "inflation" - the idea that the cosmos experienced an exponential growth spurt in its first trillionth, of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second.
Complete article from BBC News here:
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-26605974
and the BICEP2 findings here:
http://bicepkeck.org/index.html#papers
Cosmic inflation: 'Spectacular' discovery hailed
By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News
Scientists say they have extraordinary new evidence to support a Big Bang Theory for the origin of the Universe.
Researchers believe they have found the signal left in the sky by the super-rapid expansion of space that must have occurred just fractions of a second after everything came into being.
It takes the form of a distinctive twist in the oldest light detectable with telescopes.
The work will be scrutinised carefully, but already there is talk of a Nobel.
"This is spectacular," commented Prof Marc Kamionkowski, from Johns Hopkins University.
"I've seen the research; the arguments are persuasive, and the scientists involved are among the most careful and conservative people I know," he told BBC News.
The breakthrough was announced by an American team working on a project known as BICEP2.
This has been using a telescope at the South Pole to make detailed observations of a small patch of sky.
The aim has been to try to find a residual marker for "inflation" - the idea that the cosmos experienced an exponential growth spurt in its first trillionth, of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second.
Complete article from BBC News here:
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-26605974
and the BICEP2 findings here:
http://bicepkeck.org/index.html#papers
Friday, March 15, 2013
Dolphins Call Each Other By Name
In case you missed this in the news last week:
It seems one dolphin can call another specifically by mimicking the distinct whistle of that other dolphin.
"These whistles actually turned out to be names. They're abstract names, which is unheard of in the animal kingdom beyond people," said Randall Wells, one of the authors of a new study on dolphin behavior, told CNN affiliate WFLA-TV in Tampa, Florida.
Wells, of the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program, worked with scientists from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts, the Chicago Zoological Society and the Walt Disney World Resort, on the study of what they call "vocal copying" in dolphins. It was published last month in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
"Each dolphin produces its own unique signature whistle that describes its individual identity," the researchers said in a University of St. Andrews press release. "The new study suggests that in fact dolphins are mimicking those they are close to and want to see again."
To conduct the study, the researchers listened to recordings of about 250 wild bottlenose dolphins made around Sarasota Bay from 1984 to 2009. Captive dolphins at the Seas aquarium at Disney World were also recorded.
Five volunteers listened to the calls to distinguish the matches.
Researchers found that dolphins that were familiar with each other for a significant amount of time would mimic the whistle of another in that group when they were separated.
Whistle copying was not found in dolphins that happened to cross paths in the wild, the report said.
"The fact that animals are producing whistle copies when they are separated from a close associate supports the idea that dolphins copy another animal's signature whistle when they want to reunite with that specific individual," Stephanie King of St. Andrews said in the press release.
Additionally, the mimicking is not frequent, the researchers said.
"Frequent copying of signature whistles would ... render the identity information of the whistle unreliable," the study said. "The rare copying of signature whistles may, however, be particularly suited to addressing close associates."
The whole vocal experience puts dolphin communication closer to that of humans than any other species, the report said.
"The bottlenose dolphin signature whistle stands out in that it is invented by its main producer and can only be shared by animals who had experience with the inventor. Besides humans, bottlenose dolphins appear to be the other main example of affiliative copying with such individually specific learned signals," it said.
Wells said it all makes perfect sense when the bottlenose dolphins are swimming about in the Gulf of Mexico.
"These animals are living in a murky, estuary environment. They have to maintain group cohesion and stay in contact with one another and coordinate their activities -- how do you do that when you can't see one another?" WFLA quoted him as saying.
By Brad Lendon, CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/07/us/dolphin-names/index.html?hpt=hp_c4
Previously on "Oh, By The Way," dolphins are people...
It seems one dolphin can call another specifically by mimicking the distinct whistle of that other dolphin.
"These whistles actually turned out to be names. They're abstract names, which is unheard of in the animal kingdom beyond people," said Randall Wells, one of the authors of a new study on dolphin behavior, told CNN affiliate WFLA-TV in Tampa, Florida.
Wells, of the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program, worked with scientists from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts, the Chicago Zoological Society and the Walt Disney World Resort, on the study of what they call "vocal copying" in dolphins. It was published last month in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
"Each dolphin produces its own unique signature whistle that describes its individual identity," the researchers said in a University of St. Andrews press release. "The new study suggests that in fact dolphins are mimicking those they are close to and want to see again."
To conduct the study, the researchers listened to recordings of about 250 wild bottlenose dolphins made around Sarasota Bay from 1984 to 2009. Captive dolphins at the Seas aquarium at Disney World were also recorded.
Five volunteers listened to the calls to distinguish the matches.
Researchers found that dolphins that were familiar with each other for a significant amount of time would mimic the whistle of another in that group when they were separated.
Whistle copying was not found in dolphins that happened to cross paths in the wild, the report said.
"The fact that animals are producing whistle copies when they are separated from a close associate supports the idea that dolphins copy another animal's signature whistle when they want to reunite with that specific individual," Stephanie King of St. Andrews said in the press release.
Additionally, the mimicking is not frequent, the researchers said.
"Frequent copying of signature whistles would ... render the identity information of the whistle unreliable," the study said. "The rare copying of signature whistles may, however, be particularly suited to addressing close associates."
The whole vocal experience puts dolphin communication closer to that of humans than any other species, the report said.
"The bottlenose dolphin signature whistle stands out in that it is invented by its main producer and can only be shared by animals who had experience with the inventor. Besides humans, bottlenose dolphins appear to be the other main example of affiliative copying with such individually specific learned signals," it said.
Wells said it all makes perfect sense when the bottlenose dolphins are swimming about in the Gulf of Mexico.
"These animals are living in a murky, estuary environment. They have to maintain group cohesion and stay in contact with one another and coordinate their activities -- how do you do that when you can't see one another?" WFLA quoted him as saying.
By Brad Lendon, CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/07/us/dolphin-names/index.html?hpt=hp_c4
Previously on "Oh, By The Way," dolphins are people...
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Dolphins Are People
Dolphins are 'people' say scientists
By John von Radowitz in Vancouver
Tuesday, 21 February 2012
Dolphins deserve to be treated as non-human "persons" whose rights to life and liberty should be respected, scientists meeting in Canada have been told.
A small group of experts in philosophy, conservation and dolphin behaviour were canvassing support for a "Declaration of Rights for Cetaceans".
They believe dolphins - and their whale cousins - are sufficiently intelligent and self-aware to justify the same ethical considerations given to humans.
Recognising cetaceans' rights would mean an end to whaling and the captivity of dolphins and whales, or their use in entertainment.
The move is based on years of research that has shown dolphins and whales to have large, complex brains and a human-like level of self-awareness.
This has led the experts to conclude that although non-human, dolphins and whales are "people" in a philosophical sense, which has far-reaching implications.
Ethics expert Professor Tom White, from Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, author of In Defence of Dolphins: The New Moral Frontier, said: "Dolphins are non-human persons. A person needs to be an individual. If individuals count, then the deliberate killing of individuals of this sort is ethically the equivalent of deliberately killing a human being.
"The captivity of beings of this sort, particularly in conditions that would not allow for a decent life, is ethically unacceptable; commercial whaling is ethically unacceptable.
"We're saying the science has shown that individuality, consciousness, self awareness, is no longer a unique human property. That poses all kinds of challenges."
The declaration, originally agreed in May 2010, contains the statements "every individual cetacean has the right to life", "no cetacean should be held in captivity or servitude, be subject to cruel treatment, or be removed from their natural environment", and "no cetacean is the property of any state, corporation, human group or individual".
It adds: "The rights, freedoms and norms set forth in this declaration should be protected under international and domestic law."
The US authors brought their message to the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Vancouver, Canada, the world's biggest science conference.
Psychologist Dr Lori Marino, from Emory University in Atlanta, told how scientific advances had changed the view of the cetacean brain.
She said: "We went from seeing the dolphin/whale brain as being a giant amorphous blob that doesn't carry a lot of intelligence and complexity to not only being an enormous brain but an enormous brain with an enormous amount of complexity, and a complexity that rivals our own. Its different in the way it's put together but in terms of the level of complexity its very similar to the human brain."
Dolphins had a sense of self which could be tested by the way they recognise themselves in mirrors, she added.
"When you get up in the morning and look in the mirror and know that's you, you have a sense of 'you'," said Dr Marino. "They have a similar sense. They can look in a mirror and say, 'Hey, that's me'."
She argued that whaling was an example of mass murder rather than a commercial operation.
"Once you shift from seeing a being as a property, a commodity, a resource, to a person, an autonomous entity that has a right to life on his or her own terms, the whole framework shifts.. this is not about harvesting resources, this is about murder," said Dr Marino.
The experts cited unusual examples of dolphin and whale behaviour both in the wild and in captivity.
* A member of a group of orcas, or killer whales, in Patagonia had a damaged jaw and could not feed. The elderly whale was fed and kept alive by its companions.
* Dolphins taking part in an experiment had to press one of two levers to distinguish between sounds, some of which were very similar. By pressing a third lever, they were able to tell the researchers they wanted to "pass" on a particular test because it was too hard. "When you place dolphins in a situation like that they respond in exactly the same way humans do," said Dr Lori. "They are accessing their own minds and thinking their own thoughts."
* A number of captive dolphins were rewarded with fish in return for tidying up their tank. One of them ripped up a large paper bag, hid away the pieces, and presented them one at a time to get multiple rewards.
* In Iceland, killer whales and fishermen have been known to work together. The whales show the fishermen where to lay their nets, and in return are allowed to feed on part of the catch. Then they lead the fleet to the next fishing ground.
From the Belfast Telegraph:
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/dolphins-are-nonhuman-persons-16119936.html
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