Latest news with #TheMartian
Scottish Sun
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
We better watch we don't sleepwalk into another potato famine, says expert
'I'm not a betting man, but if I was, my money would always be on the pathogen' SPUD WARING We better watch we don't sleepwalk into another potato famine, says expert Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) THE United Nations International Day of the Potato is celebrated today - but boffins fear the humble spud is under global threat. Experts at the renowned James Hutton Institute, that researches land and crops from its centres in Dundee and Aberdeen, will mark the occasion by discussing the pressures facing mass potato production. 4 Professor Ingo Hein from the James Hutton Institute. 4 Matt Damon in the 2015 hit film The Martian. 4 Matt Damon growing potatoes on Mars in the film The Martian. And there are serious topics to discuss as spuds feed two thirds of the eight billion people on planet Earth. Chief Features Writer MATT BENDORIS speaks to professor Ingo Hein, Head of Potato Genetics, at The James Hutton Institute. WHEN people tell Professor Ingo Hein there could never be another potato famine like the one that killed a million people in the 19th Century, he remarks: 'And many thought they'd never be another pandemic.' The devastating disease - known as the blight - struck Ireland in 1845 leading to mass starvation. It was caused by the arrival of a pathogen - a microorganism that causes disease - called Phytophthora infestans that saw crops fail all across the Emerald Isle. Professor Hein said: 'And it wasn't just Ireland as crops failed on the West Coast of Scotland too. 'Ireland's population has never recovered as so many died or immigrated. They had eight million people before the 1840s but they have never reached that number again.' Three years ago the United Nations decided to launch the International Day of the Potato as so much of the world - especially developing countries - rely on the humble tattie to feed their populations. Professor Hein, who has been at the Scottish Institute since 1999, explains: 'Potatoes are the only main crop that has all the amino acids of life. 'So if you eat potatoes with butter, you're sorted. You literally have everything the body needs. 'Sure, it might not be the best diet in terms of diversity, but you can live off of it. 'That's why it was so popular in Ireland. It was the only crop they could afford to feed themselves.' He adds: 'It's also likely that if man ever gets to Mars, that will be the first crop grown there - just like in the Matt Damon movie The Martian. 'That's because potatoes need seven times less water to grow than cereals, but converted into calories they are much more efficient.' But one of the UK's favourite potatoes, the King Edward - first grown in 1902 - hasn't changed its genetic make-up in over a century, along with the Maris Piper - introduced to the UK in 1966. And Professor Hein believes that makes them vulnerable to a new disease in the same way Covid became the first pandemic since the Spanish Flu which killed an estimated 50 million people from 1918. He said: 'I'm not a betting man, but if I was, my money would always be on the pathogen. 'You've seen it with Covid. There was a pathogen, we had vaccines, they protected against it, and then the pathogen changed. 'It's exactly the same with diseases that affect potatoes. Because the way we have to grow potatoes on a large scale, it's an easy scenario for a pathogen to actually gain a foothold, adapt, and then have a negative impact. 'They are mainly spread by aphids which are wind-dispersed. So it doesn't know any boundaries. It will jump from one country to the next country.' The Professor believes that all the advancements in chemicals and pesticides are not the answer, insisting natural genetics is the key. He said: 'Here at the Institute in Dundee we have the Commonwealth Potato Collection. 'Many don't look like potatoes, but they are potatoes. And they really have the diversity that we need to protect the crops from pathogens and pests. 'But also from a changing environment, which the potato is ideal for, because it actually grows on every continent apart from Antarctica. 'So it's incredibly versatile and can be adapted. But the key really is in the wild species of potato. And that's what we are tapping into.' He adds: 'We can even breed them to be really nice looking potatoes. So they will have all the resistances, but will be different to Maris Piper. But still just as tasty.' The James Hutton Institute is now working towards establishing a National Potato Innovation Centre, which aims to harness the combined strengths of research and industry across the UK to future-proof potato as a crop. They are also trying to come up with ways to combat nematodes - parasitic worms that have hit parts of Scotland's potato production. Professor Hein, 51, said: 'Once your land is contaminated with these nematodes, you cannot grow seed potatoes - which is the first stage of production - on your land. So we're actually losing land at a rapid rate. 'The Scottish Government has recognised this issue and they've put funding in to try and address this.' But while the UK may be able to navigate another famine by importing more from India and China - the biggest potato producers in the world - he believes not so well off nations will suffer. He said: 'Potatoes are a huge staple food in Africa, Asia and South America, so many of these places would struggle and there would be really bad consequences. 'Many people just don't think about the potato as it's such a huge part of our daily life and is plentiful, but we must make sure they remain that way.'
Roya News
2 days ago
- Business
- Roya News
Jordan's Olivewood Studios partners with American Shadowbox Studios
American film and television production studio Shadowbox Studios has announced a new partnership with Olivewood Studios in Amman, Jordan, Deadline reported. The studio is expanding its footprint beyond its own facilities and beginning to offer studio management and consulting services to third-party operations. The move marks a significant development for both companies. Olivewood, completed in 2023, is the first purpose-built film complex in Jordan, featuring two soundstages and a backlot. Situated in the country's capital, the studio was designed to support large-scale international productions in a region already known for its cinematic appeal. "Bringing Shadowbox's global expertise to Olivewood marks a pivotal step in our growth," said Jumana Sharbin, General Manager of Olivewood Studios. "Their operational strength and industry insight will be key as we scale up and deliver world-class productions in Jordan." Shadowbox Studios is best known for operating large facilities in Atlanta and the UK, including Shinfield Studios. Under the direction of newly appointed COO Mike Mosallam, the company is now broadening its services to include strategic support for other studios — from planning and logistics to full-scale operational management. 'After visiting Jordan late last year, my team and I were astonished by the breadth of available landscapes and the production service infrastructure already in place at Olivewood,' said Mosallam, who joined the company earlier this year following roles at Apple TV+ and Netflix. 'Now with the benefit of sound stages, the Kingdom is well-positioned to house and host domestic and international productions of any size.' Jordan has long been a favored destination for filmmakers, with its unique mix of ancient heritage sites and dramatic desert backdrops. Major Hollywood productions such as Dune, The Martian, Star Wars: Episode IX, and Aladdin have all filmed in the country, capitalizing on its cinematic landscapes like Petra and Wadi Rum. Despite a recent dip in international filming interest due to regional instability following the events of October 7, 2023, Jordan's film industry is actively working to regain momentum. The Royal Film Commission (RFC) used this year's Cannes Film Festival to highlight incentives, including a boosted 45 percent cash rebate for film and television productions. Officials also hinted at a major incoming international project. The collaboration with Shadowbox is expected to strengthen Olivewood's role in positioning Jordan as a viable and attractive hub for global film production.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
'The Martian' predicts human colonies on Mars by 2035. How close are we?
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Andy Weir's bestselling story "The Martian" predicts that by 2035 NASA will have landed humans on Mars three times, perfected return-to-Earth flight systems and collaborated with the China National Space Administration. We are now 10 years past the Hollywood adaptation's 2015 release and 10 years shy of its fictional timeline. At this midpoint, Mars exploration looks a bit different than how it was portrayed in "The Martian," with both more discoveries and more controversy. As a planetary geologist who works with NASA missions to study Mars, I follow exploration science and policy closely. In 2010, the U.S. National Space Policy set goals for human missions to Mars in the 2030s. But in 2017, the White House Space Policy Directive 1 shifted NASA's focus toward returning first to the Moon under what would become the Artemis program. Although concepts for crewed missions to Mars have gained popularity, NASA's actual plans for landing humans on Mars remain fragile. Notably, over the last 10 years, it has been robotic, rather than crewed, missions that have propelled discovery and the human imagination forward. Since 2015, satellites and rovers have reshaped scientists' understanding of Mars. They have revealed countless insights into how its climate has changed over time. As Earth's neighbor, climate shifts on Mars also reflect solar system processes affecting Earth at a time when life was first taking hold. Thus, Mars has become a focal point for investigating the age-old questions of "where do we come from?" and "are we alone?" The Opportunity, Curiosity and Perseverance rovers have driven dozens of miles studying layered rock formations that serve as a record of Mars' past. By studying sedimentary layers — rock formations stacked like layers of a cake — planetary geologists have pieced together a vivid tale of environmental change that dwarfs what Earth is currently experiencing. Mars was once a world of erupting volcanoes, glaciers, lakes and flowing rivers — an environment not unlike early Earth. Then its core cooled, its magnetic field faltered and its atmosphere drifted away. The planet's exposed surface has retained signs of those processes ever since in the form of landscape patterns, sequences of layered sediment and mineral mixtures. Related: NASA rover discovers out-of-place 'Skull' on Mars, and scientists are baffled One focus of scientific investigation over the last 10 years is particularly relevant to the setting of "The Martian" but fails to receive mention in the story. To reach his best chance of survival, protagonist Mark Watney, played by Matt Damon, must cross a vast, dusty and crater-pocked region of Mars known as Arabia Terra. In 2022 and 2023, I, along with colleagues at Northern Arizona University and Johns Hopkins University, published detailed analyses of the layered materials there using imagery from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Odyssey satellites. By using infrared imagery and measuring the dimensions of surface features, we linked multiple layered deposits to the same episodes of formation and learned more about the widespread crumbling nature of the terrain seen there today. Because water tends to cement rock tightly together, that loose material indicates that around 3.5 billion years ago, that area had a drying climate. To make the discussions about this area easier, we even worked with the International Astronomical Union to name a few previously unnamed craters that were mentioned in the story. For example, one that Watney would have driven right by is now named Kozova Crater, after a town in Ukraine. Despite rapid advances in Mars science, many unknowns remain. Scientists still aren't sure of the precise ages, atmospheric conditions and possible signatures of life associated with each of the different rock types observed on the surface. For instance, the Perseverance rover recently drilled into and analyzed a unique set of rocks hosting organic — that is, carbon-based — compounds. Organic compounds serve as the building blocks of life, but more detailed analysis is required to determine whether these specific rocks once hosted microbial life. The in-development Mars Sample Return mission aims to address these basic outstanding questions by delivering the first-ever unaltered fragments of another world to Earth. The Perseverance rover is already caching rock and soil samples, including ones hosting organic compounds, in sealed tubes. A future lander will then need to pick up and launch the caches back to Earth. Once home, researchers can examine these materials with instruments orders of magnitude more sensitive than anything that could be flown on a spacecraft. Scientists stand to learn far more about the habitability, geologic history and presence of any signs of life on Mars through the sample return campaign than by sending humans to the surface. This perspective is why NASA, the European Space Agency and others have invested some US$30 billion in robotic Mars exploration since the 1960s. The payoff has been staggering: That work has triggered rapid technological advances in robotics, telecommunications and materials science. For example, Mars mission technology has led to better sutures for heart surgery and cars that can drive themselves. It has also bolstered the status of NASA and the U.S. as bastions of modern exploration and technology; and it has inspired millions of students to take an interest in scientific fields. Colonizing Mars has a seductive appeal. It's hard not to cheer for the indomitable human spirit while watching Watney battle dust storms, oxygen shortages and food scarcity over 140 million miles from rescue. Much of the momentum toward colonizing Mars is now tied to SpaceX and its CEO Elon Musk, whose stated mission to make humanity a "multi-planetary species" has become a sort of rallying cry. But while Mars colonization is romantic on paper, it is extremely difficult to actually carry out, and many critics have questioned the viability of a Mars habitation as a refuge far from Earth. RELATED STORIES —NASA Mars satellite uncovers markings 'like paint dripping down a wall' on Martian surface —Scientists find hint of hidden liquid water ocean deep below Mars' surface —Lights on Mars! NASA rover photographs visible auroras on Red Planet for the first time Now, with NASA potentially facing a nearly 50% reduction to its science budget, the U.S. risks dissolving its planetary science and robotic operations portfolio altogether, including sample return. Nonetheless, President Donald Trump and Musk have pushed for human space exploration to somehow continue to progress, despite those proposed cuts — effectively sidelining the robotic, science-driven programs that have underpinned all of Mars exploration to date. Yet, it is these programs that have yielded humanity's richest insights into the red planet and given both scientists and storytellers like Andy Weir the foundation to imagine what it must be like to stand on Mars' surface at all. This edited article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Life on Mars? Paper co-authored by LANL scientist says more terraforming research needed
It might be surprising to hear planetary scientist Nina Lanza use the word 'disappointing' in the same sentence as 'Mars.' After all, the Los Alamos National Laboratory researcher has dedicated her entire career to the Red Planet. Lanza personally has been fascinated with Mars since seeing images taken of the surface during the 1997 Pathfinder mission. But she said the earlier Viking missions in the 1970s were a letdown to many, leading to a longtime lack of interest in Earth's rusty neighbor and an approximately two-decade gap before the next Mars mission. 'We saw a bunch of rocks,' Lanza said. 'That's not actually unexpected — that's what planets are made out of. But there was so much hype, I think, built up from 100 years of study of Mars as having canals, with these civilizations moving water. All of that was built up so much that when we actually saw the surface of Mars as it is, people couldn't help being disappointed.' That's changed. Lanza, who recently co-authored a perspective paper on the potential to terraform Mars, said the fourth planet from the sun is going through a renaissance. Technological advances, Space X and Andy Weir's The Martian have returned Mars to the forefront of the public's imagination. An idea popularized by astronomer and planetary scientist Carl Sagan in 1971 is having a renaissance as well: terraforming. 'Mars has been a lot more of a complex, dynamic place than we really gave it credit for when we first landed with Viking,' Lanza said. 'It's a place with a lot of resources. It's a place that I think we can, yet again, start to imagine ourselves going to and being there on the surface.' Nina Lanza X post Nina Lanza, a Los Alamos National Laboratory scientist who has dedicated her career to Mars, documents milestones in red planet research on her X account. Her perspective paper, published in Nature Astronomy, asks two main questions: Can the currently inhospitable Mars be warmed enough for life? And, once that question is answered, another arises: Should it? The paper makes a case for more terraforming research. But there's a long way to go before the red planet turns green. Terraforming has, in the past, been relegated to the pages of novels. A 2018 study published in Nature Astronomy suggested there's not enough readily accessible carbon dioxide left on Mars to warm the planet sufficiently with greenhouse gases alone. But Edwin Kite, associate professor of planetary science at the University of Chicago and another co-author on the perspective paper, said there's been technological advances in the past couple of years that have made terraforming seem more in reach. 'It hasn't been a goal in the past because it's been seen as science fiction,' Kite said. '… It's only in the last few years that there's been a big increase in our ability to move mass around the solar system, and these new warming efforts that make it seem like something we might actually do — as opposed to science fiction.' A friendlier climate New Mexico and Mars are both deserts, Lanza noted. Water scarcity is a big problem in the Southwest, but it pales in comparison to the lack of readily accessible water on Mars. The majority of the planet's water reserves are in its coldest parts, according to her paper. Mars was likely once a warmer, wetter place, but that's not the case now. Cold, dry and radiation heavy, its surface is 'worse than the worst deserts on Earth,' Lanza said — more akin to the frozen desert of Antarctica. New Mexico is 'like a tropical jungle compared to Mars,' she said. Mars also has a thin atmosphere. Nina Lanza 'Right now, Mars is not a great place to go if you're a human — or any kind of microscopic life. It's a really harsh environment,' Lanza said. '[But] you can make it less harsh, even if you can't recreate Earth.' Kite said there's several potential ways to address these challenges and warm Mars. For example, in a 2024 article co-authored by Kite, researchers looked at using artificial aerosols made of materials readily available on the planet's surface, rather than greenhouse gases, and found it potentially could warm the planet more effectively. The recent perspective paper also delves into using solar sails and other methods to potentially increase the planet's average global temperature by 'tens of degrees' over the course of several years. Raising ethical questions But 'can' and 'should' are two different words. The paper delves into the ethics of terraforming — and putting humans on Mars in general. 'Indeed, any movement of humans beyond Earth raises ethical issues,' the paper states. 'It is a trope of science fiction that, even though humans have already restructured Earth's land surface, nitrogen cycle and so on at the planetary scale, attempts to do the same for other worlds will be seen as dysfunctional.' Much of that swirls around a lingering question left unanswered by David Bowie: Is there, or has there ever been, life on Mars? If there is, researchers argue, that totally changes the discussion about terraforming. While the planet appears dead on the surface, Kite said, there could be life lurking in the deep subsurface. And Lanza said rocks studied with Mars rovers have displayed 'fascinating chemistry' that could be an indicator of ancient life on Mars. 'If we had seen it on Earth, it wouldn't be a question to us that this was formed by life,' Lanza said. 'But because it's on Mars, it requires much, much larger burden of proof.' In some ways, the perspective paper is a call to action: More research is needed. Such research could also inform our knowledge of Earth, Lanza said, noting the planet's changing climate. Mars has gone through its own climate change, becoming drier and colder; terraforming would be yet another change. The surface is also much more ancient than Earth's, Lanza said, allowing for a more complete geologic record. But, while similar, Mars and Earth have fundamental differences, Lanza said. Terraforming could make them more similar, but Mars will never become a copy of Earth. 'Earth is unique, Mars is unique, and Mars will continue to be unique,' Lanza said. 'Planets are never going to be identical.' Nina Lanza Stalled sample mission Evidence of life could be in samples of matter collected on the planet's surface, which NASA had planned to return to Earth for study. The Mars rover Perseverance has been collecting samples, but they might not make it to Earth. An early proposed budget report said costly missions like Mars Sample Return, described as 'grossly over budget,' should be terminated. The need for research on samples would be fulfilled by human missions to Mars, the report stated. It's not the first time the high cost of the mission has raised eyebrows. An independent September 2023 report expressed concerns over an 'unrealistic budget and schedule expectations.' The mission was unlikely to meet proposed timelines, the report said, and the proposed fiscal year 2024 budget wouldn't be enough to get the program off the ground. However, the value of the samples is high, the report stated. The return would 'revolutionize' the understanding of the inner solar system and answer 'one of the most important scientific questions we can answer' — whether there is, or was, life off of Earth. But NASA struggled to communicate the importance of the mission to the public, the report stated. Last year, then-NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said the agency was working on a plan to address the issues. 'Mars Sample Return will be one of the most complex missions NASA has ever undertaken. The bottom line is, an $11 billion budget is too expensive, and a 2040 return date is too far away,' Nelson said in an August news release. 'Safely landing and collecting the samples, launching a rocket with the samples off another planet — which has never been done before — and safely transporting the samples more than 33 million miles back to Earth is no small task. We need to look outside the box to find a way ahead that is both affordable and returns samples in a reasonable timeframe.' Nina Lanza Lanza said the Mars Sample Return mission is critical. She doesn't see human missions as an alternative — the human presence can disrupt the planet's landscape, potentially obscuring any record of ancient or current life. The samples can also help protect humans, and their equipment, on future Mars missions, she said. She pointed to lunar regolith, sharp dust on the moon that can be damaging to breathe. 'Understanding what Mars is made out of and how it might pose any particular hazards to health, that's really important if you're going to send people into that hazard,' Lanza said. Kite had a different perspective. Although the samples have been 'judiciously chosen,' he said, they won't answer every question about Mars — and the high cost makes it unlikely other sample return missions will be approved. 'Even if it had been pursued, it would have been the last sample return, because taxpayers would never sign off on a second one that was very expensive,' Kite said. '… Making it that expensive is a very eggs-in-one-basket approach, because it seems that your first bunch of samples will answer all questions about Mars.' He added, 'I don't think that's likely.'
RTÉ News
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
The Chicago Sun-Times debacle proves why we need to protect human voices in journalism
It was inevitable, but it doesn't make it any less terrifying. Most people working within the creative arts - musicians, animators, filmmakers, designers - have already felt the ramifications of AI within their industries. We've seen very recently how writers have had their work essentially stolen by Meta for the purpose of 'training' their AI model. And now it's coming for journalism. The slow creep that began with harmless self-service checkouts at Tesco is now beginning to look like a landslide. You may have already heard the story about the Chicago Sun-Times ' recent run-in with AI. An eagle-eyed reader spotted that a 'Summer reading list for 2025' feature contained several titles that were… well, non-existent. Mixed in with some genuine publications like Atonement by Ian McEwan (not exactly what you might call a 'beach book') and Jess Walter's Beautiful Ruin, it made for a chillingly convincing read, nonetheless. One of the entries, titled The Last Algorithm by Andy Weir, read: "Following his success with The Martian and Project Hail Mary, Weir delivers another science-driven thriller. This time, the story follows a programmer who discovers that an AI system has developed consciousness - and has been secretly influencing global systems for years.' Not only does the book not exist, but it felt like a very pointed piece of guff. Listen: The Ray D'Arcy Show on AI and the music industry The newspaper quickly released a statement saying "We are looking into how this made it into print as we speak. It is not editorial content and was not created by, or approved by, the Sun-Times newsroom. We value your trust in our reporting and take this very seriously. More info will be provided soon." They later claimed that it was licenced from a 'national content partner' and syndicated to various publications, including their own. Embarrassing, yes. Worrying? Speaking as a journalist, without a doubt. Most people working within the creative arts - musicians, animators, filmmakers, designers - have already felt the ramifications of AI within their industries. It's not the first time that AI has pulled the wool over newspaper editors' eyes, either. In 2023, The Irish Times was pretty effectively duped after it was revealed that an opinion piece they had published, which was supposedly written by someone purporting to be a young immigrant, was actually generated by AI. All of this proves a very important point: AI might cut down on an editor's workload (and budget), never miss a deadline and provide copy that's clean as a whistle - but it cannot replicate the human experience. Listen: RTÉ Drivetime on AI and the creative industries When I first dipped my toe into music writing over twenty years ago, I had little to no experience. With no university degree and no formal training, it was a case of learning on my feet. I loved music and I could string a decent sentence together, so it was simply a matter of writing (and reading, and listening to) as much as possible - not an overnight endeavour, by any means. I began writing for an online music zine for free to get experience, and eventually got a job on a website doing interminably dull data entry, in the hope that I could somehow get a foot in the door and work my way up the ladder. A couple of decades later, I'd like to think that I'm a better writer, having interviewed hundreds of people from across the arts, listened to countless albums, attended a multitude of gigs, read endless books and watched innumerable films and TV shows. I write from the experience of being a human who has done those things and learned something from them all. Even so, the fear that AI is coming for my job - a job that I love, albeit in an industry that is increasingly difficult to make a living from as a freelancer - is always in the back of my mind. When editors choose to syndicate something like the 'summer reading list for 2025' instead of commissioning a living person who has amassed that knowledge or researched it the old fashioned way, it proves the importance of protecting human voices more than ever. And in this era of convincing deepfakes and disinformation, who else can we trust?
