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Olympic flame is lit at birthplace of ancient games

The flame for the 2024 Paris Olympics was lit on Tuesday at the site of the ancient games in Ancient Olympia, southern Greece. Despite the gloomy weather which prevented the traditional lighting- which involves an ancient Greek priestess using the sun to ignite the torch after offering a prayer to Apollo, the ancient Greek sun god - actress Mary Mina, used a back up flame to kickstart the epic torch relay. Normally, the group of priestesses would use a parabolic mirror to light the torch using the sun's rays, but because of the cloudy skies, they had to use a back up flame that was kept in a copy of an ancient Greek pot and lit on the same spot during their final rehearsals on Monday. International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said the flame lighting combined "a pilgrimage to our past in ancient Olympia, and an act of faith in our future." A relay of torchbearers will carry the flame along a 5,000-kilometre route through Greece, including several islands, until the handover to Paris Games organisers in Athens on April 26. "In these difficult times ... with wars and conflicts on the rise, people are fed up with all the hate, the aggression and negative news," Bach said. "We are longing for something which brings us together; something that is unifying; something that gives us hope." Thousands of spectators from all over the world packed Olympia for the event, amid the ruins of temples and sports grounds where the ancient games were held from 776 BC - 393 AD. The first torchbearer was Greek rower Stefanos Douskos, who was a gold medalist in 2021, followed by Laure Manaudou, a French swimmer who won three medals at Athens in 2004. Manaudou then handed it over to a Greek senior European Union official, Margaritis Schinas. From Greece, the Olympic flame will travel from Athens' port of Piraeus on the Belem, a French three-masted sailing ship built in 1896 - the year that the first modern games began in Athens. On May 8, it's due in the southern French port of Marseille, a city founded by Greek colonists around 2600 years ago. Images: Getty

International Travel

Aussies lament the end of ancient "Beers for Garbos" tradition

Here in Australia, where rubbish collectors are celebrated annually with a frosty brew (or six), a cherished tradition is facing its untimely demise. Yes, you guessed it right – the legendary "Beers for Garbos" tradition, where grateful locals adorn their wheelie bins with a six-pack of beer as a token of appreciation, is disappearing faster than a cold beer on a scorching summer day. For generations, Aussies have upheld this festive practice, a heartwarming exchange between citizens and their garbage collectors during the most wonderful time of the year. But alas, the tides are turning, and it seems the days of beer-topped bins are numbered. The alarm was sounded when a concerned citizen took to the virtual streets of Reddit to lament the decline of this time-honoured tradition. "I've been doing this for 20 years, only the last two years they don't seem interested. Is this a tradition we are losing?" cried out the desperate Redditor, faced with the heartbreaking prospect of having their VB left unwanted and unclaimed. Speculations ran wild in the digital realm, with theories ranging from light-fingered neighbours to the outrageous notion that beer might not be as popular as it once was. However, Veolia, the giant among waste management companies in Australia, quickly extinguished the fiery speculations. Veolia's chief operating officer of environment, Tony Roderick, delivered the crushing blow, confirming that the "Beers for Garbos" tradition had taken its last bow. The culprit? Health and safety concerns, the perennial party poopers of workplace festivities. Roderick explained, "Packages of beer become missiles in the cabin of the truck under emergency braking." Picture this: a garbage truck hurtling down the suburban streets, emergency brakes screeching, and inside, a symphony of exploding beer bottles. It's a hazardous scenario that even the most seasoned garbage collector might find hard to navigate. Moreover, Veolia has a company-wide dry workplace policy, dashing hopes of a beer-fuelled trash pickup. But fear not, for Roderick is not entirely Ebenezer Scrooge. He encourages alternative forms of gift-giving. "Should people want to leave a small gift for their local driver, it is possible to leave it at the local depot where the driver can collect it at the end of the shift." So, instead of a six-pack perched on the bin, envision a quaint scene of a garbage collector picking up a thoughtful gift basket at the depot – the stuff of modern Aussie holiday magic. As we bid adieu to the "Beers for Garbos" era, let's raise a glass in fond remembrance. May your wheelie bins be forever adorned with the spirit of giving, even if the contents are now strictly non-alcoholic. Cheers to a new era of sober, yet equally heartfelt, expressions of gratitude for our unsung garbage heroes! Images: Facebook

Home & Garden

Tiny ancient Christmas tree sells for thousands

One of the world's first mass-produced Christmas trees has sold at auction for a whopping 56 times higher than its original purchase price. The tree was first bought in 1920 for just six pence, and was snapped up at the auction in England by an anonymous buyer for £3,400, or $6,433 AUD. The tree was described by the auctioneer as “the humblest Christmas tree in the world”, measuring just 79cm in height, boasting 25 branches, 12 berries and six mini candle holders. The tree sits in a small, red-painted wooden base with a simple decorative emblem. The Christmas tree was first bought by the family of eight-year-old Dorothy Grant in 1920, with Dorothy using it as her tree until she passed away at the age of 101. The tree is believed to have been bought from Woolworths, with Grant decorating the tree as a child with cotton wool to mimic snow, given that baubles were considered a luxury at the time. After Grant's passing in 2014, the charming tree was passed down to her daughter Shirley Hall, who was "parting with the tree now to honour her mother's memory and to ensure it survives as a humble reminder of 1920s life". It was expected to sell for between £60 and £80 (between $110 and $150 AUD) but was bought for the astonishing price of £3,411 when it went under the hammer at Hansons auctioneers on Friday. Charles Hanson, the owner of Hansons and a regular guest on the BBC’s Bargain Hunt said, “This is one of the earliest Christmas trees of its type we have seen. The humblest Christmas tree in the world has a new home and we’re delighted for both buyer and seller … I think it’s down to the power of nostalgia. Dorothy’s story resonated with people.” He added, “As simple as it was, Dorothy loved that tree. It became a staple part of family celebrations for decades. The fact that it brought such joy to Dorothy is humbling in itself. It reminds us that extravagance and excess are not required to capture the spirit of Christmas. For Dorothy it was enough to have a tree." “Some of the first artificial Christmas trees utilised machinery which had been designed to manufacture toilet brushes. The waste-not, want-not generations of old are still teaching us an important lesson about valuing the simple things and not replacing objects just for the sake of it." Image credits: Hansons Auctioneers

Money & Banking

A brief history of the mortgage, from its roots in ancient Rome to the English ‘dead pledge’ and its rebirth in America

The average interest rate for a new U.S. <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/home-loan-mortgage-interest-rate-7-percent-highest-since-2001/">30-year fixed-rate mortgage topped 7% in late October 2022</a> for the first time in more than two decades. It’s a sharp increase from one year earlier, when <a href="https://www.valuepenguin.com/mortgages/historical-mortgage-rates">lenders were charging homebuyers only 3.09%</a> for the same kind of loan. Several factors, including <a href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/mortgages/fed-mortgage-rates">inflation rates and the general economic outlook</a>, influence mortgage rates. A primary driver of the ongoing upward spiral is the <a href="https://abc7chicago.com/fed-interest-rate-decision-today-hike-federal-reserve-meeting-november/12408055/">Federal Reserve’s series of interest rate hikes</a> intended to tame inflation. Its decision to increase the benchmark rate by <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20221102a.htm">0.75 percentage points on Nov. 2, 2022</a>, to as much as 4% will propel the cost of mortgage borrowing even higher. Even if you have had mortgage debt for years, you might be unfamiliar with the history of these loans – a subject I cover <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=KVv47noAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">in my mortgage financing course</a> for undergraduate business students at Mississippi State University. The term dates back to <a href="https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/story-of-england/medieval/">medieval England</a>. But the roots of these legal contracts, in which land is pledged for a debt and will become the property of the lender if the loan is not repaid, go back thousands of years. <h2>Ancient roots</h2> Historians trace the <a href="https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Nehemiah-5-3/">origins of mortgage contracts</a> to the reign of King Artaxerxes of Persia, who ruled modern-day Iran in the fifth century B.C. The Roman Empire formalized and documented the legal process of pledging collateral for a loan. Often using the <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%202%3A13-16&version=NIV">forum and temples as their base of operations</a>, mensarii, which is derived from the word mensa or “bank” in Latin, would set up loans and charge <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%202%3A13-16&version=NIV">borrowers interest</a>. These government-appointed public bankers required the borrower to put up collateral, whether real estate or personal property, and their agreement regarding the use of the collateral would be handled in one of three ways. First, the <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fiducia">Fiducia</a>, Latin for “trust” or “confidence,” required the transfer of both ownership and possession to lenders until the debt was repaid in full. Ironically, this arrangement involved no trust at all. Second, the <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pignus">Pignus</a>, Latin for “pawn,” allowed borrowers to retain ownership while <a href="https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1684&context=penn_law_review">sacrificing possession and use</a> until they repaid their debts. Finally, the <a href="https://legaldictionary.lawin.org/hypotheca/">Hypotheca</a>, Latin for “pledge,” let borrowers retain both ownership and possession while repaying debts. <h2>The living-versus-dead pledge</h2> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Claudius-Roman-emperor">Emperor Claudius</a> brought Roman law and customs to Britain in A.D. 43. Over the next <a href="https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/story-of-england/romans/">four centuries of Roman rule</a> and the <a href="https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/story-of-england/early-medieval/">subsequent 600 years known as the Dark Ages</a>, the British adopted another Latin term for a pledge of security or collateral for loans: <a href="https://worldofdictionary.com/dict/latin-english/meaning/vadium">Vadium</a>. If given as collateral for a loan, real estate could be offered as “<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vadium%20vivum">Vivum Vadium</a>.” The literal translation of this term is “living pledge.” Land would be temporarily pledged to the lender who used it to generate income to pay off the debt. Once the lender had collected enough income to cover the debt and some interest, the land would revert back to the borrower. With the alternative, the “<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mortuum%20vadium">Mortuum Vadium</a>” or “dead pledge,” land was pledged to the lender until the borrower could fully repay the debt. It was, essentially, an interest-only loan with full principal payment from the borrower required at a future date. When the lender demanded repayment, the borrower had to pay off the loan or lose the land. Lenders would keep proceeds from the land, be it income from farming, selling timber or renting the property for housing. In effect, the land was <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1321129.pdf">dead to the debtor</a> during the term of the loan because it provided no benefit to the borrower. Following <a href="https://www.royal.uk/william-the-conqueror">William the Conqueror’s victory</a> at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, the English language was heavily influenced by <a href="https://blocs.mesvilaweb.cat/subirats/the-norman-conquest-the-influence-of-french-on-the-english-language-loans-and-calques/">Norman French</a> – William’s language. That is how the Latin term “Mortuum Vadium” morphed into “Mort Gage,” Norman French for “dead” and “pledge.” “<a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/mortgage">Mortgage</a>,” a <a href="https://ia600201.us.archive.org/1/items/cu31924021674399/cu31924021674399.pdf">mashup of the two words</a>, then entered the English vocabulary. <h2>Establishing rights of borrowers</h2> Unlike today’s mortgages, which are usually due within 15 or 30 years, English loans in the 11th-16th centuries were unpredictable. <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1323192.pdf">Lenders could demand repayment</a> at any time. If borrowers couldn’t comply, lenders could seek a court order, and the land would be forfeited by the borrower to the lender. Unhappy borrowers could <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/chancery">petition the king</a> regarding their predicament. He could refer the case to the lord chancellor, who could <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Chancery-Division">rule as he saw fit</a>. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Francis-Bacon-Viscount-Saint-Alban">Sir Francis Bacon</a>, England’s lord chancellor from 1618 to 1621, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/752041">established</a> the <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/equity_of_redemption">Equitable Right of Redemption</a>. This new right allowed borrowers to pay off debts, even after default. The official end of the period to redeem the property was called <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/foreclosure">foreclosure</a>, which is derived from an Old French word that means “<a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/foreclose">to shut out</a>.” Today, foreclosure is a legal process in which lenders to take possession of property used as collateral for a loan. <h2>Early US housing history</h2> The <a href="https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/united-states-history-primary-source-timeline/colonial-settlement-1600-1763/overview/">English colonization</a> of what’s now <a href="https://themayflowersociety.org/history/the-mayflower-compact/">the United States</a> didn’t immediately transplant mortgages across the pond. But eventually, U.S. financial institutions were offering mortgages. <a href="https://www.huduser.gov/publications/pdf/us_evolution.pdf">Before 1930, they were small</a> – generally amounting to at most half of a home’s market value. These loans were generally short-term, maturing in under 10 years, with payments due only twice a year. Borrowers either paid nothing toward the principal at all or made a few such payments before maturity. Borrowers would have to refinance loans if they couldn’t pay them off. <h2>Rescuing the housing market</h2> Once America fell into the <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression">Great Depression</a>, the <a href="https://www.stlouisfed.org/news-releases/2008/05/02/does-the-great-depression-hold-the-answers-for-the-current-mortgage-distress">banking system collapsed</a>. With most homeowners unable to pay off or refinance their mortgages, the <a href="https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/great-depression">housing market crumbled</a>. The number of <a href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-and-education-magazines/housing-1929-1941">foreclosures grew to over 1,000 per day by 1933</a>, and housing prices fell precipitously. The <a href="https://www.fhfaoig.gov/Content/Files/History%20of%20the%20Government%20Sponsored%20Enterprises.pdf">federal government responded by establishing</a> new agencies to stabilize the housing market. They included the <a href="https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/housing/fhahistory">Federal Housing Administration</a>. It provides <a href="https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/what-is-mortgage-insurance-and-how-does-it-work-en-1953/">mortgage insurance</a> – borrowers pay a small fee to protect lenders in the case of default. Another new agency, the <a href="https://sf.freddiemac.com/articles/insights/why-americas-homebuyers-communities-rely-on-the-30-year-fixed-rate-mortgage">Home Owners’ Loan Corp.</a>, established in 1933, bought defaulted short-term, semiannual, interest-only mortgages and transformed them into new long-term loans lasting 15 years. Payments were monthly and self-amortizing – covering both principal and interest. They were also fixed-rate, remaining steady for the life of the mortgage. Initially they skewed more heavily toward interest and later defrayed more principal. The corporation made new loans for three years, tending to them until it <a href="https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,858135,00.html">closed in 1951</a>. It pioneered long-term mortgages in the U.S. In 1938 Congress established the Federal National Mortgage Association, better known as <a href="https://www.fanniemae.com/about-us/who-we-are/history">Fannie Mae</a>. This <a href="https://www.financial-dictionary.info/terms/government-sponsored-enterprise/">government-sponsored enterprise</a> made fixed-rate long-term mortgage loans viable <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/securitization.asp">through a process called securitization</a> – selling debt to investors and using the proceeds to purchase these long-term mortgage loans from banks. This process reduced risks for banks and encouraged long-term mortgage lending. <h2>Fixed- versus adjustable-rate mortgages</h2> After World War II, Congress authorized the Federal Housing Administration to insure <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CPRT-108HPRT92629/html/CPRT-108HPRT92629.htm">30-year loans on new construction</a> and, a few years later, purchases of existing homes. But then, the <a href="https://files.stlouisfed.org/files/htdocs/publications/review/69/09/Historical_Sep1969.pdf">credit crunch of 1966</a> and the years of high inflation that followed made adjustable-rate mortgages more popular. Known as ARMs, these mortgages have stable rates for only a few years. Typically, the initial rate is significantly lower than it would be for 15- or 30-year fixed-rate mortgages. Once that initial period ends, <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/arm.asp">interest rates on ARMs</a> get adjusted up or down annually – along with monthly payments to lenders. Unlike the rest of the world, where ARMs prevail, Americans still prefer the <a href="https://sf.freddiemac.com/articles/insights/why-americas-homebuyers-communities-rely-on-the-30-year-fixed-rate-mortgage">30-year fixed-rate mortgage</a>. About <a href="https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=DP04&t=Housing">61% of American homeowners</a> have mortgages today – with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15214842.2020.1757357">fixed rates the dominant type</a>. But as interest rates rise, demand for <a href="https://www.corelogic.com/intelligence/interest-rates-are-up-but-arm-backed-home-purchases-are-way-up/">ARMs is growing</a> again. If the Federal Reserve fails to slow inflation and interest rates continue to climb, unfortunately for some ARM borrowers, the term “dead pledge” may live up to its name. Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-brief-history-of-the-mortgage-from-its-roots-in-ancient-rome-to-the-english-dead-pledge-and-its-rebirth-in-america-193005" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

Real Estate

Evidence that human evolution driven by major environmental pressures discovered

The genes of ancient humans might have changed substantially due to environmental pressures and change, say an international team of researchers. A widely held belief related to human evolution is that our ancient ancestors’ ability to fashion tools, shelter, and use advanced communication skills may have helped to shield them from large environmental impacts such as changing climate, disease and exposure to other events affecting mortality. But research led out of Australian Centre for Ancient DNA at the University of Adelaide suggests that beneficial genes may have played a more important role in preserving our ancestors. Until now, the sudden increase in frequency of these genes in human groups was masked by the exchange of DNA between people during reproduction. Now, analyses of more than one thousand ancient genomes dating as far back as 45,000 years ago have found historic signals showing genetic adaptation was more common than previously thought. The study of evolutionary events, says the study’s co-lead author Dr Yassine Souilmi, has increased substantially in recent years, as these are the points where human genetics take historic turns. “Evolutionary events [are] exactly what shape our genetic diversity today,” Souilmi tells Cosmos. “That’s what makes us vulnerable to certain diseases [and] resistant to others. “Having a good understanding of evolution, we can have a better understanding of who we are.” Previous research by the Centre has uncovered a range of evolutionary trends, from historic climate change causing the demise of ancestral lions and bears, to the first interactions between humans and coronaviruses 20,000 years ago. And the broader field of research into ancient DNA has shed light on important moments in human history. Only recently did analyses of ancient genes uncover locations on the human genome associated with surviving Yersinia pestis – the bacterium that causes the bubonic plague. <h2>Single events probably triggered selection</h2> This study, published in Nature Ecology and Evolution, has similarly found environmental events might have been more influential on evolution among Eurasian groups. Such events might lead to a point of natural selection. Take, for instance, the emergence of a pathogen. If such a disease could kill people, those who managed to survive and continue reproducing would pass down favourable traits to subsequent generations. “Natural selection acts in two different mechanisms,” says Souilmi. “It only cares about whether you’re procreating successfully… when it acts, it’s either killing a lot of people, [preventing] some people from reproducing successfully, or some people are just not finding mates because they have some sort of ailment that’s not allowing them to mate successfully, or might make them undesirable. “What we’re finding is that the signal of natural selection we detected in this [research] was likely a single event, because the signal is clustered in time in a very early migration out of Africa. “Not all of the [events] we detected occurred at the same time, but the bulk of them did.” <h2>A mirror to the present</h2> This ‘agnostic’ study did not seek to identify the external pressures leading to the selection events indicated in these ancient genes, but future research by the team will seek to uncover that information. Studies like this, or those into specific pressures like the influence of the Black Death or coronaviruses on humans, show the impact of environmental change on our genetics. Souilmi says this is both insightful and cautionary, as environmental change in the present could be studied by humans in the future. He speculates that changes in the Earth’s climate, or the emergence of new pathogens, likely imposed selection pressures on ancient groups, whether through forcing shortages or changes to food supply or imposing physiological stressors. “Very likely, it’s the environment, the temperature, the weather patterns, that would have somewhat impacted the dietary regime of our ancestors out of Africa, and pathogens would have driven this [genetic] adaptation, which has shaped our genetic diversity now,” Souilmi says. “The direct lesson, socially, now, is that if we’re ever faced with events that are similar to that, we are not as immune to extreme episodes of adaptation where a lot of people might die, or be unable to reproduce. “Unless we do something to counteract the environmental changes, or viruses, bacterial or other pandemics, it could be a bad thing.” This article originally appeared on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/human-evolution-driven-by-environment/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cosmosmagazine.com</a> and was written by Matthew Agius. Image: Shutterstock

Body

How Bob Dylan used the ancient practice of ‘imitatio’ to craft some of the most original songs of his time

Over the course of six decades, Bob Dylan steadily brought together popular music and poetic excellence. Yet the guardians of literary culture have only rarely accepted Dylan’s legitimacy. His <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/14/arts/music/bob-dylan-nobel-prize-literature.html">2016 Nobel Prize in Literature</a> undermined his outsider status, challenging scholars, fans and critics to think of Dylan as an integral part of international literary heritage. My new book, “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/No-One-Meet-Imitation-Originality/dp/0817321411">No One to Meet: Imitation and Originality in the Songs of Bob Dylan</a>,” takes this challenge seriously and places Dylan within a literary tradition that extends all the way back to the ancients. <a href="https://english.umbc.edu/core-faculty/raphael-falco/">I am a professor of early modern literature</a>, with a special interest in the Renaissance. But I am also a longtime Dylan enthusiast and the co-editor of the open-access <a href="https://thedylanreview.org/">Dylan Review</a>, the only scholarly journal on Bob Dylan. After teaching and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Raphael-Falco">writing about</a> early modern poetry for 30 years, I couldn’t help but recognize a similarity between the way Dylan composes his songs and the ancient practice known as “<a href="http://www.artandpopularculture.com/Dionysian_imitatio">imitatio</a>.” <h2>Poetic honey-making</h2> Although the Latin word imitatio would translate to “imitation” in English, it doesn’t mean simply producing a mirror image of something. The term instead describes a practice or a methodology of composing poetry. The classical author Seneca <a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_84">used bees</a> as a metaphor for writing poetry using imitatio. Just as a bee samples and digests the nectar from a whole field of flowers to produce a new kind of honey – which is part flower and part bee – a poet produces a poem by sampling and digesting the best authors of the past. Dylan’s imitations follow this pattern: His best work is always part flower, part Dylan. Consider a song like “<a href="https://www.bobdylan.com/songs/hard-rains-gonna-fall/">A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall</a>.” To write it, Dylan repurposed the familiar Old English ballad “<a href="https://www.poetrybyheart.org.uk/poems/lord-randall/">Lord Randal</a>,” retaining the call-and-response framework. In the original, a worried mother asks, “O where ha’ you been, Lord Randal, my son? / And where ha’ you been, my handsome young man?” and her son tells of being poisoned by his true love. In Dylan’s version, the nominal son responds to the same questions with a brilliant mixture of public and private experiences, conjuring violent images such as a newborn baby surrounded by wolves, black branches dripping blood, the broken tongues of a thousand talkers and pellets poisoning the water. At the end, a young girl hands the speaker – a son in name only – a rainbow, and he promises to know his song well before he’ll stand on the mountain to sing it. “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” resounds with the original Old English ballad, which would have been very familiar to Dylan’s original audiences of Greenwich Village folk singers. He first sang the song in 1962 at <a href="https://bedfordandbowery.com/2016/12/the-story-of-the-gaslight-cafe-where-dylan-premiered-a-hard-rains-a-gonna-fall/">the Gaslight Cafe</a> on MacDougal Street, a hangout of folk revival stalwarts. To their ears, Dylan’s indictment of American culture – its racism, militarism and reckless destruction of the environment – would have echoed that poisoning in the earlier poem and added force to the repurposed lyrics. <h2>Drawing from the source</h2> Because Dylan “samples and digests” songs from the past, <a href="https://thedylanreview.org/2022/08/04/interview-with-scott-warmuth/">he has been accused of plagiarism</a>. This charge underestimates Dylan’s complex creative process, which closely resembles that of early modern poets who had a different concept of originality – a concept Dylan intuitively understands. For Renaissance authors, “originality” meant not creating something out of nothing, but <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Origin_and_Originality_in_Renaissance_Li/1OmCQgAACAAJ?hl=en">going back to what had come before</a>. They literally returned to the “origin.” Writers first searched outside themselves to find models to imitate, and then they transformed what they imitated – that is, what they found, sampled and digested – into something new. Achieving originality depended on the successful imitation and repurposing of an admired author from a much earlier era. They did not imitate each other, or contemporary authors from a different national tradition. Instead, they found their models among authors and works from earlier centuries. In his book “<a href="https://archive.org/details/lightintroyimita0000gree/page/n5/mode/2up">The Light in Troy</a>,” literary scholar Thomas Greene points to a 1513 letter written by poet Pietro Bembo to Giovanfrancesco Pico della Mirandola. “Imitation,” Bembo writes, “since it is wholly concerned with a model, must be drawn from the model … the activity of imitating is nothing other than translating the likeness of some other’s style into one’s own writings.” The act of translation was largely stylistic and involved a transformation of the model. <h2>Romantics devise a new definition of originality</h2> However, the Romantics of the late 18th century wished to change, and supersede, that understanding of poetic originality. For them, and the writers who came after them, creative originality meant going inside oneself to find a connection to nature. <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Natural_Supernaturalism/-ygCZmrJ2E4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=natural+supernaturalism&printsec=frontcover">As scholar of Romantic literature M.H. Abrams explains</a> in his renowned study “Natural Supernaturalism,” “the poet will proclaim how exquisitely an individual mind … is fitted to the external world, and the external world to the mind, and how the two in union are able to beget a new world.” Instead of the world wrought by imitating the ancients, the new Romantic theories envisioned the union of nature and the mind as the ideal creative process. Abrams quotes the 18th-century German Romantic <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/novalis/">Novalis</a>: “The higher philosophy is concerned with the marriage of Nature and Mind.” The Romantics believed that through this connection of nature and mind, poets would discover something new and produce an original creation. To borrow from past “original” models, rather than producing a supposedly new work or “new world,” could seem like theft, despite the fact, obvious to anyone paging through an anthology, that poets have always responded to one another and to earlier works. Unfortunately – as Dylan’s critics too often demonstrate – this bias favoring supposedly “natural” originality over imitation continues to color views of the creative process today. For six decades now, Dylan has turned that Romantic idea of originality on its head. With his own idiosyncratic method of composing songs and his creative reinvention of the Renaissance practice of imitatio, he has written and performed – yes, imitation functions in performance too – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_written_by_Bob_Dylan">over 600 songs</a>, many of which are the most significant and most significantly original songs of his time. To me, there is a firm historical and theoretical rationale for what these audiences have long known – and the Nobel Prize committee made official in 2016 – that Bob Dylan is both a modern voice entirely unique and, at the same time, the product of ancient, time-honoured ways of practicing and thinking about creativity. Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-bob-dylan-used-the-ancient-practice-of-imitatio-to-craft-some-of-the-most-original-songs-of-his-time-187052" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

Music

An ancient seed could prove wonders for your hair and skin

In a world of products saturated with new formulas and hero ingredients that promise wondrous benefits, it can feel overwhelming to find a product that works for you. A new contender is the oil of the humble Black Cumin seed, or Nigella sativa, which is the hero ingredient in Hab Shifa’s line of beauty products, including a body wash, moisturiser shampoo and conditioner. With its use dating back to the Ancient Egyptians and in some of the world’s oldest religious and medical texts, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2583426/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">clinical studies</a> of the Black Seed have since found it has various health benefits, thanks to its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antiviral, and even anti-diabetic properties. When it comes to our skin and hair, Black Seed oil has been praised for its ability to cleanse hair of impurities while nurturing the scalp. <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CiOcuLuNVYA/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CiOcuLuNVYA/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Hab Shifa Australia (@hab_shifa_black_seed)</a> </div> </blockquote> Hab Shifa takes advantage of these qualities and combines Black Seed oil with other anti-irritant ingredients, with the resulting combination helping restore skin elasticity and minimise the loss of moisture in the barriers of the skin. After trialling Hab Shifa’s products over the last few months, I can safely say the shampoo and conditioner make easy work of my hair, leaving it feeling lighter, softer, and clean even when it has been at its greasiest. The body wash and moisturiser have delivered similar results for my skin, with the scrub helping my skin feel exfoliated while the moisturiser has put an end to my usual bouts of dry skin. <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Ch1t5DOLeXI/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Ch1t5DOLeXI/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Hab Shifa Australia (@hab_shifa_black_seed)</a> </div> </blockquote> I’m not the only one who has seen the benefits of using Hab Shifa’s Black Seed oil products either. After searching for a product to help with dryness and cracking - a problem made all the worse due to increased hand-washing during the COVID-19 pandemic - nurse Margie Ryan has since made the moisturiser her go-to product, even over pharmaceutical and heavy-duty products. She says the moisturiser absorbs well and that it doesn’t feel like oils are transferred, and recommends it for anyone who works in industries where their hands are frequently in water or where they are prone to dryness or cracking. The Hab Shifa Black Seed skin and hair care range consists of the <a href="https://habshifa.com.au/collections/nourishment-tq/products/black-seed-nurturing-shampoo-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nurturing Shampoo</a> and <a href="https://habshifa.com.au/collections/nourishment-tq/products/black-seed-nurturing-conditioner" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nurturing Conditioner</a>, the <a href="https://habshifa.com.au/collections/nourishment-tq/products/black-seed-revitalizing-body-wash" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Revitalizing Body Wash</a>, and the <a href="https://habshifa.com.au/collections/nourishment-tq/products/black-seed-hydrating-moisturizing-lotion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hydrating Moisturizing Lotion</a>, which retail for $19.95 each or can be purchased as <a href="https://habshifa.com.au/collections/gift-packs/products/gift-of-beauty-gift-pack" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a bundle</a> for $77.50 on Hab Shifa’s online store. To find their products in-store, head <a href="https://habshifa.com.au/pages/store-locator" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a> to locate your closest one. Image: Getty Images

Beauty & Style

Silence of the poets – has an ancient tradition of commemorative verse died with the Queen?

Not so long ago, the death of a monarch would have been a cue for outpourings of elegies and poetic commemorations. One might have thought the end of the second Elizabethan era would prompt something similar – but apparently not. So far, the death of Queen Elizabeth II has had only a muted response from our poets, both in the United Kingdom and here in Aotearoa New Zealand. Does this reflect shifting priorities in the national imagination? Are we witnessing the demise of poetry on public occasions? We need only look back at the death in 1936 of the queen’s grandfather, George V, for comparison. <a href="https://backwatersman.wordpress.com/2009/12/27/the-death-of-king-george-v/">John Betjeman</a> and <a href="https://www.poetryexplorer.net/poem.php?id=10105234">John Masefield</a> were among the poets who marked the occasion. Betjeman was England’s poet laureate from 1972 until his death in 1984, and also wrote on the <a href="https://www.poetryexplorer.net/poem.php?id=10038138">birthday of the queen mother</a> and the <a href="https://www.poetryexplorer.net/poem.php?id=10038137">marriage of Charles and Diana</a>. Betjeman stood in a long line of British poet laureates stretching back unbroken to John Dryden in 1668, and to poets such as Geoffrey Chaucer before that. But the culture of poetry responding to monarchs’ deaths has flourished outside the official post, too. The unexpected death in 1612 of the 18-year-old Prince Henry, son and heir to James VI and I, prompted an <a href="https://specialcollections-blog.lib.cam.ac.uk/?p=3553">outpouring of poetic tears</a>. <a href="https://www.poetrynook.com/poem/elegy-upon-untimely-death-incomparable-prince-henry">John Donne</a> wrote an elegy, as did George Herbert, John Webster and Sir Walter Raleigh. <h2>Elegiac energy</h2> Particularly voluminous was the the flood of poetry that met the execution of King Charles I at the height of the English Civil Wars in 1649. His <a href="https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw35443/The-execution-of-King-Charles-I">dramatic beheading</a> on a scaffold erected outside Whitehall Palace made him a martyr to his loyal followers. Literary historian Nigel Smith has described the way elegy became a royalist genre, as the death of the king “sucked all elegiac energy into its own subject”. And there are close connections nearby to these elegies on King Charles I. Melbourne’s State Library Victoria holds the <a href="https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/search-discover/explore-collections-theme/history-book/emmerson-collection">John Emmerson collection</a> of over 5,000 early modern English books, among which poems, pamphlets and other <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-16/king-charles-1-trial-and-executed-news-of-the-time/6391990">publications on the death of Charles I</a> feature prominently. Poetic treasures in the collection include a copy of Monumentum Regale: Or a Tombe, Erected for that Incomparable and Glorious Monarch, Charles the First, a volume of elegies and poetic “sighs” and “groans” published three months after the king’s execution. Royalist poets grapple with how they can possibly commemorate an “incomparable” king. The Earl of Montrose declares he has written his poem with “blood”, “wounds” and the point of his sword. In Aotearoa New Zealand, the Alexander Turnbull Library is famous for its collection of works by a poet from the other side of the 17th-century political divide, John Milton. <a href="https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/2t53/turnbull-alexander-horsburgh">Turnbull</a> (1868–1918) had a personal interest in Milton, an ardent republican. Even Turnbull’s collection, however, contains a notable number of volumes celebrating Charles I, including multiple editions of Eikon Basilike (The King’s Book), which represented Charles I as a Christ-like martyr. <h2>Public poetry isn’t dead</h2> This vast body of public poetry about previous monarchs is in sharp contrast to the response to Queen Elizabeth II’s death. Even in the United Kingdom, the current poet laureate, Simon Armitage, seems to have struggled. The form of his poem “Floral Tribute”, an acrostic on the name “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/sep/13/floral-tribute-poem-queen-elizabeth-simon-armitage-poet-laureate">Elizabeth</a>”, seems archaic at best and banal at worst. New Zealand’s poet laurate, Chris Tse, inaugurated only a few weeks ago, has been notably silent. When I asked him why, he said writing a poem for the queen “would be a backwards step in terms of where I want the role to go”. Tse’s reticence perhaps echoes the complicated thoughts of Selina Tusitala Marsh, a recent former laureate, on <a href="https://www.read-nz.org/aotearoa-reads-details/nz-poet-selina-tusitala-marsh-visits-and-sasses-the-queen">performing her poem</a> “Unity” for the queen in 2016. For Marsh, the British Crown’s colonial legacy (as she put it, “Her peeps also colonised my peeps”) made writing and performing the poem a complex commission to accept. As laureate, Marsh preferred to write poems on occasions such as <a href="https://thespinoff.co.nz/books/22-06-2018/the-friday-poem-jacinda-and-clarke-and-the-baby-and-us-by-the-nz-poet-laureate">the birth of a prime ministerial baby</a>. But the fact New Zealand even has a <a href="http://www.poetlaureate.org.nz/">poet laureate</a> in 2022 suggests there is still an appetite for public poetry, even if the days of poems on the death of a queen are numbered. The modern monarchy itself, of course, provides rich material for poetry of a less commemorative kind. Bill Manhire, New Zealand’s inaugural laureate, speculated on Twitter that we are awaiting an acrostic on “Andrew”. And the most remarkable poem of the morning we awoke to news of the queen’s death was essa may ranapiri’s “<a href="https://twitter.com/ired0mi/status/1567977694348058624">The Queen is Dead</a>”. Immediate and visceral, it’s an unabashed anti-colonialist spit in the face of monarchy. Some will find it shocking, others will gasp with appreciation. But even those taken aback by its frank approach and timing may share the sense of distance it captures, in its formal displacement of the news from afar by scrambled eggs, spring sunlight and the joy of quotidian love as a new day begins. Public poetry isn’t dead. But our poets’ responses to the death of the queen – the silent, the awkward, the confrontational – tell us much, as ever, about the societies we live in. Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/silence-of-the-poets-has-an-ancient-tradition-of-commemorative-verse-died-with-the-queen-190834" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

Art

“Barbarian” Aussie rides moped in Pompeii

An Aussie tourist has been dubbed a “barbarian” after stupidly driving a moped in the ancient site of Pompeii. The 33-year-old was spotted on CCTV entering the historic site where construction vehicles were allowed in which prompted them to chase him down immediately. It is alleged the man rode the moped for almost 2km before he was captured by police and charged with “unauthorised access”. "The route taken is a dirt road outside the ancient city walls, used by site vehicles for excavation works," the park said in a statement. "It is safe, restored, and not accessible to the public. So there was no danger for either visitors or for the archaeological heritage at any point." The man claims that he did not know he was riding through an ancient site which was destroyed from a volcanic eruption in 79AD. It has been confirmed that luckily the man did not destroy anything of the 2,000-year-old historic site. Image: CCTV

Travel Trouble

Ancient insect calls for update to Jurassic Park soundtrack

For the past 150 years, the single known specimen of a species of katydid-like insect known as <a href="http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/Taxa.aspx?TaxonNameID=1129138" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Prophalangopsis obscura</a> has sat quietly in the London Natural History Museum but now some scientists have worked out what it would have sounded like. A British/Austrian team, used some seriously fancy equipment and an understanding of the physics of insect acoustics to work out what this species would have sounded like when it sang for a mate, giving insight into the ancient insect soundscape of the Jurassic period. Katydids are grasshoppers and crickets. This holotype, or single known specimen, is one of only eight remaining species from the 90 or so which were abundant during the Jurassic period. The research team has shown the sounds produced by this particular insect would have been similar to, although distinguishable from, other related species around this period. <figure class="wp-block-audio"><audio src="../wp-content/uploads/2022/08/journal.pone_.0270498.s002.wav?x88132" controls="controls"></audio><figcaption>The reconstructed calling song of Prophalangopsis obscura. Credit: Woodrow et al. 2002/PLOS ONE, CC-BY 4.0</figcaption></figure> The chirp produced by P. obscura is a pure tone, emitted at around 4.7 kHz — well-within the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK10924/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">range of human hearing</a>. Aside from helping researchers understand what the insect world sounded like when dinosaurs roamed the Earth some 145 to 201 million years ago, the findings also suggest that early insects of this type were limited to frequencies below 20 kHz. <div class="newsletter-box"> </div> This is important because the other species of Prophalangopsis known today have evolved to be flightless, using their wings exclusively for sound production and attracting a mate. These evolved species have also developed ultrasonic sound production organs to assist in deterring ground-based predators. That P. obscura retained its ability to fly — even just short distances — and did not develop ultrasonic capabilities, suggests it followed a different evolutionary path to the other species still in existence today, giving extra insight into the evolution of this species and their relatives. But, how do you hear an insect that has been dead for 150 years? Like katydids and their relatives, P. obscura, produced sound by scraping one of its wings with a ‘file’ (or row of teeth). These vibrations would then by amplified by special structures within the insect’s wing and radiated out into the surrounding environment. Scientists at the University of Lincoln, the Natural History Museum, London, UK and Karl-Franzens-University, Graz, Austria used a technique called micro-scanning Laser-Doppler Vibrometry (LDV) to scan and then reconstruct the wings and sound-producing organs of the holotype. They then applied knowledge of close relatives of the species, they were then able to infer the “carrier frequency” (the central frequency at which the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jeb.13179" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">overall sound reaches its maximum energy</a>). Due to its low frequency and pure tone, the song P. obscura sang may have reverberated far and wide across the Jurassic landscape.  <img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=201424&title=Ancient+insect+calls+for+update+to+Jurassic+Park+soundtrack" width="1" height="1" />  <div id="contributors"> <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/biology/ancient-insect-jurassic-sound/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This article</a> was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/clare-kenyon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Clare Kenyon</a>. Clare Kenyon is a science writer for Cosmos. She is currently wrangling the death throes of her PhD in astrophysics, has a Masters in astronomy and another in education, and has classroom experience teaching high school science, maths and physics. Clare also has diplomas in music and criminology and a graduate certificate of leadership and learning. Image: Charlie Woodrow </div>

Family & Pets

Take a trip through an ancient home in Pompeii

Archeologists have recreated a Pompeiian villa that was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 C.E. Through the use of VR (virtual reality), researchers have carefully created a digital model of the ancient residence to better understand how visitors would have seen the home, according to <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/reviewing-pompeian-domestic-space-through-combined-virtual-realitybased-eye-tracking-and-3d-gis/E82035C72C580D9602CCF00D625BC65D">the recently published paper in the </a><a href="https://www.artnews.com/t/archaeology/">archaeology</a> journal Antiquity. The villa, known as the House of the Epigrams, was excavated in the 1870s and so named because it contains mythical paintings accompanied by Greek epigrams. While the identity of the owner is impossible to determine, researchers have suggested it may have belonged to a Lucius Valerius Flaccus due to a signet ring bearing his sigil being discovered there. The paper, titled “Re-viewing Pompeian domestic space through combined virtual reality-based eye tracking and 3D GIS,” was written by PhD. candidate Danilo M. Campanaro and Professor Giacomo Landeschi, who are both affiliated with the Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Lund University, Sweden. <iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9t39at8xgLw" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> Through extensive research, the authors of the paper have been able to determine what decorations to use in the recreation, as well as uncovering how the opulent villa would be viewed by residents of Pompeii of various social and economic classes. This recreation is the first of its kind in the studies of ancient Pompeii, with the research findings showcasing a different quality of life for locals before their city was destroyed. Image credits: YouTube

Art

Pompeii’s ancient ruins guarded by a robot “dog”

The Archaeological Park of Pompeii has found a unique way to patrol the historical archaeological areas and structures of Pompeii in Italy. Created by Boston Dynamics, a robot “dog” named Spot is being used to identify structural and safety issues at Pompeii: the ancient Roman city that was encased in volcanic ash following the 79 C.E. eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The robot is the latest addition to a broader initiative to transform Pompeii into a “Smart Archaeological Park” with “intelligent, sustainable and inclusive management.” The movement for this “integrated technological solution” began in 2013, when UNESCO threatened to remove the site from the World Heritage List unless drastic measures were taken to improve its preservation, after structural deficiencies started to emerge. The goal, as noted in the release, is to “improve both the quality of monitoring of the existing areas, and to further our knowledge of the state of progress of the works in areas undergoing recovery or restoration, and thereby to manage the safety of the site, as well as that of workers.” “We wish to test the use of these robots in the underground tunnels that were made by illegal excavators and which we are uncovering in the area around Pompeii, as part of a memorandum of understanding with the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Torre Annunziata,” said Pompeii’s director general Gabriel Zuchtriegel in a statement. In addition to having Spot the “dog” patrol the area, a laser scanner will also fly over the 163-acre site and record data, which will be used to study and plan further interventions to preserve the ancient ruins of Pompeii. Image credits: Getty Images

Art

Ancient knowledge is lost when a species disappears. It’s time to let Indigenous people care for their country, their way

Indigenous people across Australia place tremendous cultural and customary value on many species and ecological communities. The very presence of a plant or animal species can trigger an Indigenous person to recall and share knowledge. This is crucial to maintaining culture and managing Country. But as species disappear, ancient knowledge built up over thousands of years also fades away – and fragments of our culture are lost forever. For years, Indigenous groups have pushed for the right to partner with government authorities to “co-manage” culturally significant species and communities. Such recognition of Indigenous rights would require amendments to environment and land management laws. Unfortunately, changes to Australia’s federal environment laws currently underway fall short of what’s needed. To protect Australia’s imperilled species, the law must chart a new course that allows Indigenous groups to manage their Country, their way. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434938/original/file-20211201-25-189bdrg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434938/original/file-20211201-25-189bdrg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="A woman welcomed to Country" /></a> Ngurrara Ranger Mary is welcomed to Paruku Country in the Great Sandy Desert. A meeting between many groups discussed threatened and culturally significant species. Nicolas Rakotopare/Yanunijarra Aboriginal Corporation <h2>Managing the Indigenous estate</h2> Australia’s <a href="https://www.themandarin.com.au/68385-indigenous-estate-ilc-chairperson-eddie-fry-garma/">Indigenous estate</a> takes in about <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0173876">51% of the range</a> of the nation’s threatened vertebrate species. The Indigenous estate refers to the assets held, or reasonably likely to be held, by or for the benefit of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. It includes land and sea held through such means as traditional ownership, native title and land rights organisations. It also includes intangible values such as cultural rights, practice and expression, as well as Indigenous knowledge and traditional management. A range of state and federal programs involve Indigenous participation in land and sea management, offering invaluable protection to the Indigenous estate. These include Indigenous Protected Areas and the successful <a href="https://www.niaa.gov.au/indigenous-affairs/environment/indigenous-ranger-programs">Indigenous Ranger program</a>. And many governments and other groups recognise that species and ecological communities can have significant cultural, spiritual and customary value to Indigenous Australians. But often, no legal mechanism exists to protect these entities. Some species and other entities of significance to Indigenous Australians are listed as threatened under Australia’s federal environment law, known as the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act. But authorities are not required to engage Indigenous Australians in the listing, management or recovery of these species. Indigenous Australians have successfully managed this continent’s landscapes and seascapes for tens of thousands of years. Their approach is holistic and integrated – considering the whole cultural landscape with a deep understanding of the interconnected relationships between species and Country. In contrast, management actions under federal environment law focus on the outcomes of the listed species instead of the overall health of Country. All this has left Indigenous groups underfunded and at the mercy of national-level management decisions, as opposed to place-based Indigenous-led action. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434940/original/file-20211201-25-b87h6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434940/original/file-20211201-25-b87h6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="Men sitting around a map" /></a> Ngurrara Rangers map potential night parrot habitat. The meeting was hosted by Paruku Rangers and Traditional Owners in the Great Sandy Desert. Nicolas Rakotopare/Yanunijarra Aboriginal Corporation <h2>‘Surprising and disappointing’</h2> The EPBC Act was recently reviewed by Professor Graeme Samuel, who was commissioned by the federal government. His <a href="https://epbcactreview.environment.gov.au/resources/final-report">final report</a> in 2020 found the law was failing in many ways. Samuel recommended a suite of reforms. Among other goals, they aimed to “respect and harness the knowledge of Indigenous Australians”. One year on and <a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7591429/a-year-on-from-a-landmark-report-nature-and-law-reform-is-floundering/">progress</a> on implementing the 38 recommendations is slow. Among the recommendations were that the EPBC Act adopt a set of legally enforceable “national environmental standards” – clear rules that protect the environment and enable sustainable development. The standards <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jan/28/australia-urged-to-overhaul-environment-laws-and-reverse-decline-of-our-iconic-places">would cover</a> matters such as threatened species, compliance, environmental data and <a href="https://epbcactreview.environment.gov.au/resources/final-report/appendix-b2-indigenous">Indigenous engagement</a> and participation in decision-making. It was both surprising and disappointing that Indigenous knowledge was not embedded across all proposed environmental standards. The omission means Indigenous perspectives will continue to be relegated to a stand-alone standard of “participation”. In particular, the national standard pertaining to threatened species made no reference to Indigenous knowledge or the Indigenous estate. And proposed <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/pages/44b768d8-75ad-417d-84cc-dfb0e069e97e/files/national-environmental-standard-mnes-2021-draft.pdf">interim standards</a> completely omit Indigenous engagement, participation and values. Without a mandate to include Indigenous people in threatened species planning and recovery, biodiversity will remain at risk. What’s more, significant gaps in the application of Indigenous Knowledge and protection of the Indigenous estate will continue. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434973/original/file-20211201-27-tg1guw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434973/original/file-20211201-27-tg1guw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="hands with green turtle eggs" /></a> Rangers collecting green turtle eggs on Yanyuwa Country in the Gulf of Carpentaria. Nicolas Rakotopare <h2>A new kind of recognition</h2> During the submission process of the review, <a href="https://epbcactreview.environment.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-06/ANON-QJCP-UGT1-F%20-%20Indigenous%20Working%20Group%20-%20Threatened%20Species%20Recovery%20Hub.pdf">many</a> Indigenous and <a href="https://www.ecolsoc.org.au/news/esa-response-to-epbc-interim-report/">non-Indigenous</a> organisations <a href="https://epbcactreview.environment.gov.au/submissions/anon-qjcp-ugt1-f">lobbied</a> for the recognition of “culturally significant entities”. These groups include the government’s own <a href="https://epbcactreview.environment.gov.au/submissions/bhlf-qjcp-ug3c-z">Indigenous Advisory Committee</a> and <a href="https://epbcactreview.environment.gov.au/submissions/anon-k57v-xf2u-j">Threatened Species Scientific Committee</a>. “Culturally significant entities” are species and sites of great or exceptional cultural importance to Indigenous Australians. They might be a source of identity, a medicine, lore, an important traditional food or required for cultural practices. They usually feature prominently in Indigenous knowledge, language and ceremonies. Submissions to the review called for these entities to be formally recognised under the EPBC Act and afforded a far higher level of protection. They also called for the mandatory participation of Indigenous Australians in threatened species nominations, listings, policy and management. Many Indigenous Australians were disappointed this measure was not mentioned in Samuel’s final report. Without proper legal protection, culturally significant entities will not be assessed and can be damaged by threats such as climate change, inappropriate land management and poorly conceived development proposals. <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434970/original/file-20211201-13-1b11i3o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="Man holds lizard" /> A yellow-spotted monitor – a culturally significant bush tucker species – on Karajarri Country. Sarah Legge <h2>From engagement to empowerment</h2> It’s time for governments and conservation groups to recognise the enduring value of the Indigenous estate and knowledge in curbing Australia’s parlous record of biodiversity loss. While many of Samuel’s recommendations attempted to address issues raised by Indigenous Australians, they fall short of true empowerment and global best practice. As the size and scale of the Indigenous estate continues to <a href="https://minister.awe.gov.au/ley/media-releases/australia-signs-international-biodiversity-declaration">grow</a>, so to does the opportunity to arrest biodiversity decline. Rather than sitting in the back seat, Indigenous Australians must be up front in managing the recovery of Australia’s unique and precious environment. The authors acknowledge and thank the following people for their contributions to this work and article: Oliver Costello, a Bundjalung man; and Cissy Gore-Birch, a Jaru, Nyikina and Balanggarra woman, and Executive Manager Aboriginal Engagement at Bush Heritage Australia.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172760/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/teagan-goolmeer-1288819">Teagan Goolmeer</a>, PhD Candidate, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/assoc-prof-bradley-j-moggridge-400729">Assoc Prof Bradley J. Moggridge</a>, Associate Professor in Indigenous Water Science, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-canberra-865">University of Canberra</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/professor-stephen-van-leeuwen-1289086">Professor Stephen van Leeuwen</a>, BHP / Curtin Indigenous Chair of Biodiversity & Environmental Science, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/curtin-university-873">Curtin University</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/ancient-knowledge-is-lost-when-a-species-disappears-its-time-to-let-indigenous-people-care-for-their-country-their-way-172760">original article</a>. Image: Nicolas Rakotopare/Karajarri Traditional Lands Association

Domestic Travel

“Next level creepy": Man's chilling find in ancient farmhouse

A man has made a creepy discovery after moving into a 200-year-old farmhouse. “Found this behind a drawer in a built-in cabinet the day we moved into our 200-year-old farmhouse,” he wrote in a post on Facebook. “Currently sealed in a crate and locked in the shed. “I’ve read enough Stephen King to know that if we threw it out it would just come back.” The man found what looked like some kind of doll or marionette. His feelings were shared by others who saw the post. “Haunted. Definitely haunted,” one woman commented. One man suggested keeping the doll in concrete “just to be safe” while others called it “next level creepy”. Image: Facebook

Home & Garden

5 trendy words that are actually ancient

Hip dudes have been friending each other for centuries. Legit! 1. Legit Legit as a shortening of legitimate has been around since the 1890s. It started as theatre slang for things associated with legitimate drama (versus vaudeville or burlesque). From the 1920s on, it referred to authenticity. If you were ‘legit,’ you were being honest. 2. Friend (as a verb) <div class="slide-image">When did friend become a verb? The answer is sometime in the 1400s. In the Oxford English Dictionary, the verb friend means ‘to make friends or to help someone out.’ One example of its usage from 1698: ‘Reports came that the King would friend Lauderdale.’</div> 3. Unfriend If you could friend someone, it was only natural, according to the productive rules of English word formation, that you could unfriend her too. The word appears in Thomas Fuller’s 1659 book The Appeal of Injured Innocence, ‘I Hope, Sir, that we are not mutually Un-friended by this Difference which hath happened betwixt us.’ <div class="at-below-post addthis_tool" data-url="https://www.readersdigest.com.au/culture/5-trendy-words-that-are-actually-ancient">4. Hipster</div> <div class="tg-container categorySection detailSection"> <div id="primary" class="contentAreaLeft"> <div id="page4" class="slide-show"> <div id="test" class="slide listicle-slide"> <div class="slide-description"> Hipster shows up in a 1941 dictionary of hash-house lingo, meaning ‘a know-it-all.’ The word hip appeared in the 1900s and referred to being up on the latest trends. 5. Dude </div> </div> </div> <div id="page5" class="slide-show"> <div id="test" class="slide listicle-slide"> <div class="slide-description"> In the 1880s, dude had a negative, mocking ring to it. A dude was a dandy, someone very particular about clothes, looks, and mannerisms, who affected a sort of exaggerated high-class British persona. As one Brit noted in an 1886 issue of Longman’s Magazine, “Our novels establish a false ideal in the American imagination, and the result is that mysterious being ‘The Dude.’”. By the turn of the century, it had come to mean any guy, usually a pretty cool one. Source: <a href="https://www.rd.com/funny-stuff/funny-trendy-words-ancient/">RD.com</a> Written by Brandon Spektor. This article first appeared in <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.readersdigest.com.au/culture/5-trendy-words-that-are-actually-ancient" target="_blank">Reader’s Digest</a>. </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <img style="width: 100px !important; height: 100px !important;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7820640/1.png" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/f30947086c8e47b89cb076eb5bb9b3e2" />

Books

The coastal banksia has its roots in ancient Gondwana

If you fondly remember May Gibbs’s <a href="https://maygibbs.org/story/gumnut-babies/">Gumnut Baby</a> stories about the adventures of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, you may also remember the villainous <a href="https://maygibbs.org/characters/big-bad-banksia-men/">Big Bad Banksia Men</a> (perhaps you’re still having nightmares about them). But banksias are nothing to be afraid of. They’re a marvellous group of Australian native trees and shrubs, with an ancient heritage and a vital role in Australian plant ecology, colonial history and bushfire regeneration. The <a href="https://www.anbg.gov.au/banksia/">genus Banksia</a> has about 173 native species. It takes its name from botanist <a href="https://theconversation.com/botany-and-the-colonisation-of-australia-in-1770-128469">Sir Joseph Banks</a>, who collected specimens of four species in 1770 when he arrived in Australia on board Captain Cook’s Endeavour. One of the four species he collected was B. integrifolia, the coastal banksia. This can be a small to medium tree about 5m to 15m tall. In the right conditions, it can be quite impressive and grow up to 35m. It’s found naturally in coastal regions, growing on sand dunes or around coastal marshes from Queensland to Victoria. These can be quite tough environments and, while B. integrifolia tends to grow in slightly protected sites, it still copes well with sandy soils, poor soil nutrition, salt and wind. From ancient origins Coastal banksia – like all banksias – belong to <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/14599266?q&versionId=45817129">the protea family</a> (Proteaceae). But given the spectacular flowering proteas are of African origin, how did our Australian genera get here? The members of the Proteaceae belong to an ancient group of flowering plants that evolved almost 100 million years ago on the southern supercontinent Gondwana. When Gondwana fragmented more than 80 million years ago, the proteas remained on the African plate, while the Australian genera remained here. The spikes of woody fruits on the Australian banksia, sometimes called cones, are made up of several hundred flowers. The flower spikes are beautiful structures, soft and brush-like. But with B. integrifolia, they are pale green, similar to the foliage, and can be hard to see within the canopy at a distance. Up close, these fruit spikes can look quite spooky, almost sinister, especially when wasps have caused <a href="https://www.sgaonline.org.au/gall-of-australian-native-trees/">extensive gall formation</a>. Galls are swellings that develop on plant tissues as a result of fungal and insect damage, a bit like a benign tumour. Maybe this is what led May Gibbs to cast them as <a href="https://www.maygibbs.org/characters/big-bad-banksia-men/">the baddies</a> in her Gumnut Baby stories. While the galls may look unsightly, they rarely do serious harm to banksias. Indigenous use Given the fruit spikes of coastal banksia look like brushes, it’s not surprising Indigenous people once used them as <a href="https://www.monash.edu/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/542119/Guide-to-the-Aboriginal-Garden-Clayton-Campus.pdf">paint brushes</a>. The flowers <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/BT/BT9850705">are very rich in nectar</a>, which attracts insects and birds. If you run your hand along the flower spike you, like generations of Aboriginal people before you, can enjoy the sweet taste if you lick the nectar off your hand. You can also soak the flowers in water and collect a sweet syrup. In the garden, B. integrifolia is wonderfully attractive to native insects, birds and ringtail possums. It’s easy to establish and, until it grows more than a few metres high, can be successfully moved and transplanted. Unlike many other banksia species, coastal banksias don’t need fire to release their seed. For many Australian species, the woody fruits remain solid and sealed, and it’s only when fire comes through that they burn, dry, crack open and release their seed. This can happen with B. integrifolia too, but in a garden setting the fruits will mature, dry and crack open and release the seeds, which germinate readily. This makes propagating coastal banksia easy work. In touch with its roots Perhaps one of the more important, but less obvious, attributes of B. integrifolia are its roots. These are a special type of root possessed by members of the protea family. The roots form a dense, branched cluster, a bit like the head of a toothbrush, that can be 2-5cm across. They greatly increase the absorbing surface area of the roots, as each root possesses thousands of very fine root hairs. Proteoid roots can be very handy in sandy and other poor soils, where water drains quickly and nutrients are scarce. These roots, also described as cluster roots, are often visible in a garden bed just at the interface of the soil with the humus or mulch layer above it. They’re very light brown, almost white, in colour. 1. integrifolia, like other banksias, also has the ability to take in nitrogen and enrich the soil, which can be very handy in soils low in nitrogen. It’s like a natural living and decorative fertiliser. Proteoid roots are unfortunately very well suited to the presence of Phytophthora cinnamomii (the cinnamon fungus). It causes dieback in many native plant species, but can be particularly virulent for banksias. But B. Integrifolia is one of the more <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Native_Australian_Plants/1G4lAQAAMAAJ?hl=en">resistant species</a> to the fungus. Promising experiments have been done on grafting susceptible species onto the roots of B. integrifolia to improve their rates of survival. This could be important, as banksias have a role in bushfire regeneration in many parts of Australia, so the occurrence of the fungus can compromise fire recovery. Written by Gregory Moore. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-coastal-banksia-has-its-roots-in-ancient-gondwana-138434">The Conversation.</a>

Retirement Life

Indulge in some filling mushrooms and ancient grain salad

Time to prepare: 10 mins Cooking time: 20 mins Serves: 4 - 6 If you're finding your healthy New Year's resolutions have started to wane, try this mushroom and grain salad that is sure to get your body back on track! Ingredients: <ul> <li>1 packet superblend (fibre) – freekeh, green and yellow lentils and beans</li> <li>80ml (⅓ cup) extra virgin olive oil</li> <li>2 punnets swiss brown mushrooms, cleaned, quartered</li> <li>2 lemons, zest finely grated, juiced</li> <li>1 red onion, halved very finely shaved</li> <li>1 bunch coriander, finely chopped, including the stems</li> <li>80g pine nuts, toasted</li> <li>200g feta, optional</li> <li>Salt and pepper, to season</li> </ul> Directions <ol> <li>Cook the grain blend according to packet instruction, then drain, set aside and cool.</li> <li>Meanwhile, heat 1 tbsp oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook the mushrooms for 5 minutes or until golden and cooked. Season with salt and pepper. Turn off the heat and allow to cool.</li> <li>Meanwhile, combine the lemon zest and juice with the onion in a large bowl. Add the remaining oil, cooled grain blend, mushrooms, coriander and pine nuts and toss to combine. Season well with salt and pepper. If using, top with the feta to serve.</li> </ol> Recipe courtesy of <a rel="noopener" href="http://www.australianmushrooms.com.au/" target="_blank">Australian Mushrooms</a>.

Food & Wine

Revealed: The foods we’re eating that contain weed killer

A new study called the Total Diet Survey, which was done by the Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has found that Australians are eating the RoundUp chemical “glyphosate” for breakfast. The research also found that parents are unknowingly feeding it to infants as the chemical was found in baby food. The chemical was also found in: <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Multigrain, wholemeal, spelt, rye and white breads</li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Savoury biscuits and crackers</li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Rice-based breakfast cereals</li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Rice-based flours</li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Rice-based crackers</li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Infant baby cereal, as this is also a rice-based product</li> </ul> Cereals and cereal products, in particular bread, were the “major contributing food category to glyphosate dietary exposures” according to the agency. However, the agency was quick to point out that the levels found within the bread was well below accepted dietary limits and concluded that there was “no public health and safety concerns for most substances”. The 25th Australian Total Diet Survey sampled 88 foods for a wide range of herbicides and pesticides and found that contaminant levels were “generally low, with a large proportion of food supplies containing no detectable residues” according to <a href="https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2019/07/20/roundup-food-cancer/">The New Daily</a>. However, the agency has come under fire for its unchanged levels of glyphosate amid mounting calls for Australian regulators to review the chemical’s use and potential carcinogenic effects on people. Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide in the world with more than 6 billion kilograms applied over the last decade. In a recent landmark case, a US couple was awarded $2 billion in damages when a California jury found that their cancer was caused by exposure to RoundUp. Public health academic Dr Bruce Armstrong, from the University of Sydney, said it was time for regulators to “get real” about glyphosate instead of “point-blank denying the evidence”.

Food & Wine

The 1000-year-old coins that could help rewrite Aussie history

James Cook declaring that Australia was “terra nullius” in 1770 might not have been the right move at the time as a new copper coin could rewrite Australian history. In an interview with The Guardian, archaeologist Mike Hermes revealed he found an ancient coin on a beach in the Wessel Islands which he believes to be from Kilwa. Kilwa is more than 10,000 kilometres away and is now known as Tanzania. The coin dates from before the 15th century. “The Portuguese were in Timor in 1514, 1515 — to think they didn’t go three more days east with the monsoon wind is ludicrous,” he said to <a href="https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/archaeology/1000yearold-coins-found-in-northern-territory-may-rewrite-australian-history/news-story/65af0dc01d5046af142dbff3919065a6">news.com.au</a>. “We’ve weighed and measured it, and it’s pretty much a dead ringer for a Kilwa coin. “And if it is, well, that could change everything.” Tests on the coin’s origins currently remain inconclusive, but Hermes hasn’t given up. Wessel Islands are an uninhabited group of islands off the north coast of Australia and became a strategic position to protect the mainland in World War II. In 1944, five coins were found by an Australian soldier called Maurie Isenberg. He didn’t know what they were at the time and pocketed them in a tin. Isenberg rediscovered the coins in 1979 and sent them off to a museum to be examined where it was found that the coins were 1,000 years old. The discovery of the coins raises more questions than answers about colonisation. If James Cook wasn’t the first person to discover Australia, who was? How did 1,000-year-old coins end up on a remote beach on an island off the northern coast of Australia? Did explorers from distant shores explore Australia before 1770? The discovery of the coins was forgotten about until anthropologist Ian McIntosh got the ball rolling again in 2013 when he led an expedition to Wessel Islands. Unfortunately, the journey failed to find any more coins. Despite the coins not having any monetary value, for archaeologists such as McIntosh, they are priceless.

Money & Banking

Pecan, broccolini & salmon grain bowl

Enjoy a pecan, broccolini and salmon grain bowl to keep your heart health up! Preparation time: 10 mins Cooking time: 10 mins Serves: 2 Ingredients <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;">2 x 100g skinless salmon fillets  </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">1 tsp olive oil  </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">1/2 cup pecans, lightly toasted (60g)  </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">1 bunch broccolini  </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">4 radishes, sliced  </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">1 orange, peeled and sliced  </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">1 cup cooked brown rice  </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">1 spring onion, sliced  Dressing  </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">2 Tbsp almond butter  </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">2 tsp tamari or soy sauce  </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">1 tsp miso paste  </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">1 tsp maple syrup  </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">2 Tbsp lime juice  </li> </ul> Method   <ol> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Whisk together almond butter, soy sauce, miso paste, and syrup. Whisk in lime juice until smooth. Dressing will thicken as it sits, thin with water if desired.  </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Preheat a skillet over medium heat. Drizzle salmon with oil and cook approximately 3 minutes per side, or until cooked to your liking. Remove salmon from pan and set aside to rest. Roughly flake when cool enough to handle.  </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Wipe skilllet, fill about half way with water and return to heat. Add broccolini and simmer for a few minutes, until bright green and tender-crisp. Refresh under cold water.  </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Roughly chop half the pecans and stir through rice, divide into two bowls. Top rice with salmon, broccolini, orange, radish, and remaining pecans. Drizzle with dressing, sprinkle with sliced spring onion.  </li> </ol> Recipe and images by Jennifer Jenner for <a href="https://www.nutsforlife.com.au/">Nuts for Life</a>

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Ancient knowledge is lost when a species disappears. It’s time to let Indigenous people care for their country, their way