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Foreign Interference, MEPs call for urgent protection of 2024 European elections

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European Parliament
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Foreign Interference, MEPs call for urgent protection of 2024 European elections
MEPs warn meddling in democratic processes will increase in the run-up to the 2024 European Parliament elections - arnaud-jaegers-IBWJsMObnnU-unsplash

Parliament calls for a coordinated strategy to increase the EU’s resilience to foreign interference and manipulation of information, as well as protection of 2024 European elections.

Foreign interference, disinformation, and attacks on democracy are likely to continue in ever-greater numbers and to become more sophisticated in the run-up to the European Parliament elections in June 2024, say MEPs. The warning comes in a report by the Special Committee on Foreign Interference in all Democratic Processes in the European Union, including Disinformation, adopted by plenary by 469 votes for, 71 against and 75 abstentions.

In the text, MEPs highlight interference on online platforms, protection of critical infrastructure and strategic sectors, interference during electoral processes, covert funding of political activities by foreign actors and resilience to cyberattacks. The report focuses particularly on Russian and Chinese interference in the EU, in countries applying to join the EU, including the Western Balkans, and countries in the Global South.

Meddling in electoral processes

Parliament condemns the dangerous phenomenon of disinformation-for-hire, whereby providers offer disinformation services to government and non-government actors, for example over the dark web, to attack electoral processes. To counter prohibited financial transactions from non-EU countries entering the EU’s political system, MEPs urge the Commission to facilitate the tracking of donations and call on the member states to urgently address the issue of donations from third countries to national political parties.

Critical infrastructure

MEPs also highlight the risks of economic dependence, espionage and sabotage, when foreign companies acquire influence over EU critical infrastructure. Chinese shipping companies have acquired majority or sizeable interests in over 20 European ports, they add . MEPs also recommend banning TikTok at all levels of national government and in the EU institutions and call on the Council and the Commission to exclude the use of equipment and software from manufacturers from high-risk countries, particularly China and Russia, such as ByteDance Huawei, ZTE, Kaspersky, NtechLab or Nuctech.

Coordinated EU strategy

Parliament wants a coordinated EU strategy to include new initiatives alongside improved enforcement of existing provisions, and calls for adequate funding to tackle disinformation and uphold democratic processes. MEPs are requesting the Commission to develop an effective Defence of Democracy Package together with legislation to counter hybrid threats in the EU, taking into account proposals from the Conference on the Future of Europe They also want a permanent European Parliament body to monitor and fight foreign interference.

In adopting this report, Parliament is responding to the expectations of EU citizens to step up the fight against foreign interferences and counter disinformation, online threats and propaganda in an objective and factual way –as expressed in Proposals 23(5), 27(all), 28(2), 33(4), 37(4), 46(2) of the conclusions of the Conference on the Future of Europe.

For main takeaways from the report, click here.

Quote

Rapporteur Sandra Kalniete (EPP, LV) said: “Foreign interference in democratic processes represents a growing threat to the security of EU member states and the EU, particularly against the backdrop of rapid technological development and Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine. We must act urgently and implement our recommendations quickly. Significant and lasting investment must be made in our democratic resilience, drawing on the experience of our partners like Ukraine and Taiwan.”

Background

The report follows up on the implementation of the Resolution on foreign interference adopted in March 2022. While preparing the new report, MEPs met with national, European and international policy makers, with intelligence services of EU member states as well as with NATO StratCom in Riga, the Hybrid CoE in Helsinki, with the Australian government and authorities and respective bodies at the UN in New York, and as well with relevant counterparts and authorities in Kyiv, Ukraine.

MEP Maxette Pirbakas deciphers EU agricultural policy

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Newsdesk
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French MEP Maxette Pirbakas, a member of the Committee on Regional Development and national president of the Rassemblement pour les français d’Outre-mer (RPFOM), was invited to take part in the monthly programme and discuss the problems facing agriculture in Europe.

Hosted by journalist Radouan Bachiri, the programme aims to discuss current affairs within the European Union, as well as topics such as neighbourhood policy, immigration, security and defence, human rights, regional development, international trade, fisheries and agriculture, women’s rights and gender equality, strengthening the integrity of the European Parliament and civil liberties and home affairs.

The MEP was invited to discuss the European Union’s agricultural policy because of her recent visit to Réunion on 25 and 26 May. In her capacity as MEP for Overseas France and national president of the Rassemblement des Français d’Outre-mer (RPFOM), she met with beekeepers from Réunion at the Saint-Philippe town hall.

The beekeepers outlined the challenges and problems facing their sector, including the problem of destroying hives infested with the small beetle.

“Bees have many parasites. One of these parasites is the small hive beetle, which is a colony pest. So in France, there is a systematic policy of eradication as soon as a case is detected. Clearly, if a small beetle, even a single one, is discovered in a hive, the hive is destroyed along with the bees. And not just that hive, but all the neighbouring hives. So it’s no coincidence that for one unfortunate little beetle detected, the government burns down 50 hives, killing millions of bees”, explains Ms Pirbakas.

This parasite poses a serious threat to hives and bee colonies, and beekeepers have asked Ms Pirbakas for help in talking to the European Parliament about this problem.

As a member of the Committee on Regional Development since 2019, the MEP returned in her interview to the objectives and certain fields of action of the REGI Committee.

“The Committee on Regional Development, known as the REGI Committee, is one of the most important committees in the European Parliament. It is important because it implements what is known as cohesion policy, i.e. aid for the development of the least favoured regions to bring them into line with the most favoured. To do this, it has at its disposal ERDF funds, dedicated to aid for innovation and research, digital technology and support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The REGI Commission also has access to cohesion funds, which are dedicated to trans-European transport networks and environmental infrastructure projects. Finally, and very importantly, the REGI Committee has the ESF +, the European Social Fund, which finances projects linked to employment, training, apprenticeships and social inclusion”, says Maxette Pirbakas MEP.

The European Union’s agricultural policy is a major issue that requires particular attention. The challenges faced by beekeepers on La Réunion are just one example of the problems facing farmers across Europe. It is crucial that MEPs continue to support and defend the interests of farmers, finding effective solutions to ensure the sustainability and prosperity of the agricultural sector.

“What I stand for is a Europe that is open but not naïve. We need to protect our internal market, but not against all types of imports, only those that are not in line with our values. Other types of agricultural goods are welcome. We’re not afraid of any competition when it’s fair, and I’m telling you this as a farmer”, concludes Mrs Pirbakas.

Discussions and exchanges of information such as those that took place during The European Monthly Briefing help to raise awareness among the public and political decision-makers of the challenges facing European agriculture. Working together to develop agricultural policies is essential.

315,000 grave violations against children in conflict over 18 years: UNICEF

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United Nations News
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315,000 grave violations against children in conflict over 18 years: UNICEF

The UN-verified figures were reported by the agency as States, donors and the humanitarian community meet in Norway, for the Oslo Conference on Protecting Children in Armed Conflict.

The 315,000 incidents were recorded in more than 30 conflict situations across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America.

They include more than 120,000 children killed or maimed; at least 105,000 children recruited or used by armed forces or armed groups; over 32,500 children abducted; and more than 16,000 children subjected to sexual violence.

The UN has also verified more than 16,000 attacks on schools and hospitals, and more than 22,000 instances where humanitarian access for children has been denied. 

The true toll is likely to be far higher, UNICEF stressed. Additionally, many millions more children have been displaced from their homes and communities, lost friends or family, or been separated from parents or caregivers.

‘War on children’

“Any war is ultimately a war on children,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.

“Exposure to conflict has catastrophic, life-changing effects for children. While we know what must be done to protect children from war, the world is not doing enough. Year after year, the UN documents the visceral, tragic and all too predictable ways that children’s lives are torn apart.”

The UNICEF chief said It is incumbent on all in the international community to ensure children “do not pay the price for the wars of adults, and to take the bold, concrete action required to improve the protection of some of the world’s most vulnerable children.”

The Fund has supported the care and protection of millions of affected children across conflict situations, including through the provision of mental health and psychosocial support, child protection case management, family tracing and reunification, and services for child survivors of gender-based violence.

Rehabilitating child soldiers

Just last year, UNICEF reached almost 12,500 former child soldiers with reintegration or other protection support, and more than nine million children with information designed to help them avoid explosive remnants of war such as landmines.

The agency said that the scale of protection risks is vastly outpacing available funding however.

New analysis by Humanitarian Funding Forecasting, commissioned by UNICEF, Save the Children, the Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action and the Global Child Protection Area of Responsibility, reveals that by 2024, the child protection sector will require $1.05 billion, increasing to US$1.37 billion by 2026, to address the protection needs of children in armed conflict.

If the current pace of humanitarian funding continues, the projected shortfall would stand at $835 million in 2024, growing to US$941 million by 2026.

This gap could leave conflict-affected children exposed to the immediate and lasting impacts of war, child labor, trafficking, and violence, UNICEF warned.

Ukraine.” title=”A young girl stands in the rubble of her damaged school in Horenka, in the Kyiv region of Ukraine.” loading=”lazy” width=”1170″ height=”530″/>

A young girl stands in the rubble of her damaged school in Horenka, in the Kyiv region of Ukraine.

Call for new commitments in Oslo

At the Oslo conference, the agency is calling on government to make bold new commitments, including: 

  • To uphold and operationalize the international laws and norms already in place to protect children in war – including to protect schools, hospitals and other protected objects like water and sanitation facilities from attack, to stop the recruitment and use of children by armed groups and forces, to stop the use of explosive weapons in populated areas.
  • Hold perpetrators to account when children’s rights are violated.   
  • Step up with critical resources to fund the protection of children in conflict at the scale and speed required, in line with growing need. This must include investment in humanitarian response and in national child protection workforces.

“We must deliver a child protection response that is equal to the challenges we face,” said Ms. Russell. “We need to do everything we can to reach all children in need, particularly the most vulnerable.”

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A side effect of rice that you hardly suspect

By
Petar Gramatikov
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American experts from the University of North Carolina found a side effect of eating rice that many people don’t even think about. Unexpected side effect of rice According to scientists, cooked rice can be toxic to the body. If it has been stored at room temperature for a long time, you should not eat it – in this case, the probability of poisoning increases sharply, according to the researchers.

Bacteria can be found in rice, say scientists. Bacteria of the type Bacillus cereus, penetrating from the soil, are most often found in it. After experimenting with different ways of cooking rice, the researchers discovered that heat treatment did not always destroy all the microorganisms living in the rice. If bacterial spores that survive after cooking enter the human body with food, this can cause a serious deterioration in well-being. The activity of bacteria is accompanied by the release of toxins, including thermostable ones, which provokes the symptoms of poisoning. According to experts, within two hours after cooking, rice should be placed in the refrigerator – otherwise the risk of poisoning will be very high.

“Bacterial spores are able to survive cooking rice if it is normally stored at room temperature after cooking. In this case, the spores grow and multiply,” the authors of the scientific project point out.

Photo by Suzy Hazelwood: https://www.pexels.com/photo/rice-in-white-ceramic-bowl-1306548/

Cells, Immune cells, Septic shock and metastases, finding the culprits

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Newsdesk
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How can cells and Immune cells of the human body respond quickly to physical and chemical changes in their environment?

Although genetic mutations can cause changes to the properties of a cell, non-genetic mechanisms can drive rapid adaptation, in a process broadly termed cell plasticity. Cell plasticity is involved in fundamental biological processes in health and disease. For example, tumour cells can shift from a highly proliferative state to a more invasive state, and thus promote cancer metastasis. On the other hand, during inflammation, immune cells can transform into cells that execute an inflammatory response and promote tissue repair. Uncontrolled inflammation that gets out of hand can lead tissue damage and ultimately septic shock.

A group at Institut Curie in Paris now found a new culprit of these processes on a molecular level; work that was published recently in the scientific journal Nature.

The researchers found that cells responsible for metastasis formation or immune cells implicated in inflammation and sceptic shock have increased amounts of copper, which is responsible for changes in cell plasticity. Interestingly, copper is taken up into cells via a protein called CD44 and hyaluronic acid, also known to be an ingredient in many beauty products. There was already proof of metal uptake by CD44 in cancer cells by the research team, published previously in the journal Nature Chemistry. CD44 is a protein that has been widely studied for decades and found in many cell types, including cells of the immune system, cancer cells, cells involved in wound healing, progenitor cells of red blood cells and many more. The scientists showed that copper taken up by CD44 accumulates in mitochondria of the cells, which are organelles responsible for energy production.

Illustration: model of the study. Image credit: Institut Curie

Further police work to investigate the fundamental processes have led to the findings that copper controls metabolism in these mitochondria, i.e. has direct effects on the energy production of the cell. This in turn changes levels of molecules called metabolites, which influence how genes are read in the cell. In particular levels of NAD(H) were affected, which are one of the most known and most important metabolites known in human cells. In short, these changes have an effect what the cell can do and look like and affect its function.

Furthermore, the scientists developed a new small drug-like molecule, based on the anti-diabetes drug metformin, which can block these processes by binding and inactivating this copper. This then influences the energy production of the cell and ultimately its function. In the context of immune cells, the researchers could thus achieve less aggressive immune cells and dampen inflammation in mouse models. This new drug prototype could rescue mice of septic shock.

ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw== Cells, Immune cells, Septic shock and metastases, finding the culprits
The researchers Raphaël Rodriguez, Stéphanie Solier and Sebastian Müller. Image credit: Beloncle Frank/Institut Curie.

But that was not all. The study also showed that these fundamental processes underlying inflammation are also found in cancer, more specifically in molecular events that can trigger metastasis formation! Thus, this approach could potentially be adopted to fight metastasis. Since more than 11 million people die of septic shock in the world per year and 90% of cancer deaths are due to metastases, there is now big hope that this can be developed into new medications, which could help many patients on a global scale.

Overall, This study now shows great promise, both on a molecular fundamental research level and potential clinical applications. It also poses the question of how much copper is good for us?

Source: Institut Curie

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Prudent use of antibiotics and more research needed to fight antimicrobial resistance

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European Parliament
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to fight antimicrobial resistance

Parliament adopted its recommendations on Thursday for a coordinated EU response to health threats posed by antimicrobial resistance.

In a resolution passed with 525 votes in favour, two against and 33 abstentions, MEPs say the successful tackling of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) requires the prudent use of antibiotics for humans and animals, good infection prevention and control measures, and more research and development into novel antimicrobials and alternatives to antimicrobials.

MEPs also said that if the measures recommended to member states prove insufficient, further legislative action at the EU level would be needed.

National measures to prevent, monitor and reduce the spread of AMR

The text calls on EU countries to put in place, implement and regularly update (at least every two years) ‘National Action Plans’ against AMR, as a priority for their national health systems.

To support the prudent use of antimicrobials for human health, MEPs want to improve data collection, including real-time data, both on AMR and antimicrobial consumption. They also ask the Commission to establish an EU-level database.

Addressing antimicrobial consumption

While they agree with the target proposed by the Commission to reduce by 2030 the total human consumption of antibiotics in the EU by 20%, MEPs insist that national measures must also ensure that at least 70% of antibiotics consumed belong to the “access group” as defined in the WHO’s AWaRe classification (antibiotics that are efficient against a wide range of commonly encountered pathogens while also showing lower resistance potential).

Support for research and prevention of medicines shortages

The resolution calls on member states and the Commission to support research data sharing and technological innovation for the detection, prevention and treatment of infections in humans caused by antimicrobial resistant pathogens. In this context, MEPs say the creation of a European partnership should involve all stakeholders (industry, patient organisations, academia) and should be accessible to SMEs.

They underline the importance of coordinating national initiatives on manufacturing, procurement and stockpiling, in order to prevent medicines shortages and significantly improve the continuity of supply of antimicrobials and other AMR countermeasures in the EU.

Next steps

Member states are expected to adopt the Commission proposal for a Council recommendation on combatting AMR in mid-June.

Background

On 26 April 2023, the Commission proposed a Council recommendation on stepping up EU actions to combat antimicrobial resistance in a One Health approach, as part of the reform of EU pharmaceutical legislation.

In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared AMR as one of the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity. In July 2022, the Commission identified AMR as one of the top three priority health threats. Each year, bacteria resistant to antibiotics cause more than 670 000 infections and approximately 33 000 people die as a direct consequence in the EU/EEA.

In adopting this resolution, Parliament is responding to citizens’ expectations to ensure that all Europeans have access to healthy food and a healthy lifestyle and to guarantee their equal access to health as expressed in Proposals 7 (1), 7(5) and 10(1) of the conclusions of the Conference on the Future of Europe.

Florence is chasing Airbnb and similar platforms out of its historic center

By
Gaston de Persigny
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The authorities in the busiest tourist centers will have the right to impose a minimum stay of at least 2 nights

Florence intends to ban short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb from using apartments in the city’s historic center, Reuters reported, citing Mayor Dario Nardella.

According to him, such a measure would free up more space for local residents. He pointed out that the local government will try to find a solution at the local level, as the national plans to regulate the sector are “disappointing”.

Under Nardella’s proposal, called “Saving Historic Centers,” new short-term rental contracts in the city center would be banned and authorities would offer tax breaks to encourage permanent occupancy.

The Italian government is currently working on a draft law that, according to local media, would require any residential property rented out to tourists to have a national identification code so occupancy can be tracked. Those who fail to meet this requirement risk a fine of up to €5,000.

In addition, the authorities in the busiest tourist centers will have the right to impose a minimum stay of at least 2 nights in their historic centers.

Photo by Maegan White: https://www.pexels.com/photo/concrete-house-near-body-of-water-981686/

Companies must mitigate their negative impact on human rights and the environment

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European Parliament
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Companies must mitigate their negative impact on human rights and environment
Companies will be required to consider impact of their activities on human rights and the environment.

On Thursday, Parliament adopted its position for negotiations with member states on rules to integrate into companies’ governance the impact on human rights and the environment

Companies will be required to identify, and where necessary prevent, end or mitigate the negative impact of their activities on human rights and the environment such as on child labour, slavery, labour exploitation, pollution, environmental degradation and biodiversity loss. They will also have to monitor and assess the impact of their value-chain partners including not only suppliers but also sale, distribution, transport, storage, waste-management and other areas.

The new rules will apply to EU-based companies, regardless of their sector, including financial services, with more than 250 employees and a worldwide turnover over 40 million euro as well as to parent companies with over 500 employees and a worldwide turnover of more than 150 million euro. Non-EU companies with a turnover higher than 150 million euro, if at least 40 million was generated in the EU, will also be included.

Directors’ duty of care and company’s engagement with stakeholders

Companies will have to implement a transition plan to limit global warming to 1.5° and in the case of large companies with over 1000 employees, meeting the plan’s targets will have an impact on a director’s variable remuneration (f.e. bonuses). The new rules also require firms to engage with those affected by their actions, including human rights and environmental activists, introduce a grievance mechanism and regularly monitor the effectiveness of their due diligence policy. To facilitate investors’ access, information about a company’s due diligence policy should be also available on the European Single Access Point (ESAP).

Sanctions and supervisory mechanism

Non-compliant companies will be liable for damages and can be sanctioned by national supervisory authorities. Sanctions include measures such as “naming and shaming”, taking a company’s goods off the market, or fines of at least 5% of the net worldwide turnover. Non-EU companies that fail to comply with the rules will be banned from public procurement in the EU.

According to the text adopted, the new obligations would apply after 3 or 4 years depending on the company’s size and. Smaller companies will be able to delay applying the new rules by one more year.

Parliament’s negotiating position was adopted with 366 votes in favour, 225 against and 38 abstentions.

Quote

“The European Parliament’s support is a turning point in the thinking about the role of corporations in society. A corporate responsibility law must ensure that the future lies with companies that treat people and the environment in a healthy way – not with companies that have made a revenue model out of environmental damage and exploitation. Most companies take their duty towards people and the environment seriously. We help these companies with this ‘fair business law’. And at the same time we cut off those few large cowboy companies that flout the rules,” noted rapporteur Lara Wolters (S&D, NL) following the plenary vote.

Background

The European Parliament has consistently called for more corporate accountability and mandatory due diligence legislation. The European Commission proposal was introduced on 23 February 2022. It complements other existing and upcoming legislative acts, such as the deforestation regulation, conflict minerals regulation and draft regulation prohibiting products made with forced labour.

Next steps

Now that Parliament has adopted its position, negotiations with member states on the final text of the legislation can begin. Member states adopted their position on the draft directive in November 2022.

In adopting this report, Parliament is responding to citizens’ expectations concerning sustainable consumption as expressed in proposal 5(13), strengthening the ethical dimension of trade as expressed in proposals 19(2) and 19(3) and the sustainable growth model as expressed in proposal 11(1) and 11(8) of the conclusions of the Conference on the Future of Europe.

M87 galaxy with the cosmic digestive system

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Newsdesk
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New observations of the spectacular M87 galaxy reveal how a powerful jet forms around a monstrous black hole contained inside it.

A few years ago, the image of an orange glowing donut caused a sensation. For the first time, researchers have captured an image of the immediate vicinity of a supermassive black hole at the centre of the galaxy M87

This galaxy is known for a jet that accelerates matter far out of the galaxy, driven by the central black hole. How exactly the jet is anchored near the black hole and how the matter streams into the jet is not yet fully understood.

Astronomers, with the participation of the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, are now providing new answers. With a network of radio telescopes almost as large as the Earth itself, they are using the example of M87 to make the matter flows in the extreme centre of a galaxy visible for the first time.

Artist’s impression of the centre of an active galaxy like M87. Matter flows along a disk towards the central black hole, while some matter is accelerated along a focused jet. Image credit: Sophia Dagnello, NRAO/AUI/NSF

It is assumed that the enormous brightness and activity at the centre of a galaxy like M87 is due to matter from the surrounding area falling into the black hole at the centre of the galaxy.

However, some of the matter is also channelled out of this region via a jet. In the case of the galaxy M87, there have already been separate images of the innermost disc of matter around the central black hole and the jet.

It was previously unclear how the jet, which remains collimated to the galaxy’s edges, forms in the vicinity of the black hole.

The image that was now obtained establishes the connection for the first time. “We see how the jet emerges from the ring around the black hole and gain new insights into the physical processes that give rise to the jet,” says Thomas Krichbaum from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy.

ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw== M87 galaxy with the cosmic digestive system
Reconstructed image of the central region of M87 from data from the telescope network consisting of the GMVA and Alma. The large image shows a bright core with the black hole at its centre. The jet, recognisable by three filaments, is anchored in this core and originates there. An enlargement of the core in the highlighted box shows the ring structure of matter surrounding the black hole. The ring has an angular diameter of 64 microarcseconds, comparable to the diameter of a concert spotlight on the moon as seen from Earth. Image credit: R. Lu et al, Nature 2023

A giant telescope does detailed work

The international research team obtained the image by observing the radio light at a wavelength of 3,5 millimetres. This allows an almost unobscured view onto the radio-bright matter streams that surround the central black hole, and that fuel the jet.

Seen from Earth, this inner region appears only about as large as a concert spotlight on the Moon, corresponding to an angular diameter of 64 microarcseconds. At a distance of the galaxy of about 55 million light years, this corresponds to a few times the diameter of our solar system.

In order to resolve these structures, which are tiny when seen from Earth, the researchers use an array of many radio telescopes. The larger the network and the further apart the individual telescopes are, the smaller the structures that can be imaged.

The wavelength that the radio receivers are tuned into also define the image. The shorter the wavelength, the finer the structures that can be imaged.

The central component of the network is the Global Millimetre VLBI Array (GMVA), which spans Europe and North and South America with more than a dozen individual telescopes. To improve the imaging quality, the team also added the Atacama Large Millimetre/Submillimetre Array (Alma) and the Greenland Telescope.

Only through the special arrangement of the telescopes and the choice of the wavelength of 3,5 millimetres were the scientists able to image the galaxy’s central engine and how matter flows into the black hole and is accelerated outwards in a jet.

They observed the galaxy’s core back in April 2018 and took years to interpret the data and reconstruct the image.

ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw== M87 galaxy with the cosmic digestive system
Labelled image of the M87 Galaxy. Credit: NASA/Chandra

“The spectacular image of the jet and ring in M87 is an important milestone and crowns years of collaborative effort,” says Eduardo Ros, a scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy.

The image of the nucleus of M87, which astronomers had succeeded in obtaining a few years earlier with a different telescope configuration, the Event Horizon Telescope at a wavelength of 1,3 millimetres, is characterised by an even stronger zoom factor. It mainly shows matter in a comparatively narrow ring in the immediate vicinity of the black hole. This donut-like image marked the black hole itself for the first time.

Tracing the boundaries of physics

For J. Anton Zensus, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, these successes show that the years of development and continuous expansion of the technology of these global radio telescope networks have paid off. But the limits of this high-resolution observation technique have not yet been reached.

New, even more sensitive radio receivers of the GMVA telescope should enable the astronomers to make further detailed measurements. In addition to the light intensity, which has been imaged here, other properties of the radio light can also be extracted.

The polarisation, for example, mimics the structure and strength of the underlying magnetic field that surrounds the black hole and shapes the jet. Matter that is visible via its radio emission in the presented image, moves along these invisible magnetic field lines.

These and other measurement techniques make it possible to study the physical processes in the immediate vicinity of a black hole, billion times heavier than the sun, which embodies the limits of physics.

M87 galaxy: Key Facts

  1. The M87 galaxy is also known as Virgo A or Messier 87. It was the 87th object cataloged by French astronomer Charles Messier.
  2. It is located in the Virgo constellation and is part of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies. It is approximately 53.5 million light-years away from Earth.
  3. The M87 galaxy is one of the largest galaxies in the nearby universe. It has an estimated diameter of about 120,000 light-years, making it significantly larger than our Milky Way galaxy.
  4. M87 is famous for hosting one of the most massive black holes known to astronomers. The black hole at its center has a mass of about 6.5 billion times that of our Sun and is surrounded by a rotating disk of hot gas and plasma.
  5. This galaxy also features a prominent jet of high-energy particles emanating from its central black hole. The jet extends over 5,000 light-years and emits radiation across various wavelengths, including radio waves, visible light, and X-rays.
  6. M87 is classified as an elliptical galaxy, which means it has an elliptical or football-like shape. It lacks the distinct spiral arms seen in spiral galaxies like the Milky Way.
  7. It is one of the brightest galaxies in the Virgo Cluster. It has a visual magnitude of around 9.6, making it visible with binoculars or small telescopes under favorable conditions.
  8. Like other galaxies, M87 is believed to be surrounded by a halo of dark matter, a mysterious substance that does not emit or interact with light but exerts gravitational influence.
  9. M87 has interacted with other galaxies in the Virgo Cluster, leading to the formation of tidal tails and distortions in its outer regions.
  10. M87 has been extensively studied by the Hubble Space Telescope, providing detailed images and data on its structure, jet, and black hole.

Source: MPG

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In Chukotka sell eggs only with a passport

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Newsdesk
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In the town of Bilibino in Chukotka, Russia, they started selling eggs only after presenting a passport. This was announced by the governor of the region, Vladislav Kuznetsov, on his Telegram channel. He explains that during his tour of the region, many local residents approached him with complaints about the shortage of a number of products in the shops.

“High prices for the products, which, on top of everything, are not enough for everyone. Eggs are sold only against a passport – as it was in the 90s! I have instructed to quickly create a stock of eggs in Bilibino sufficient to cover the demand,” Kuznetsov wrote.

According to him, a poultry farm should be built in Bilibino, but in order to put it into operation, feed subsidies must be provided. “We will solve the issue, we have put it on the agenda of the government on Friday,” the governor promised.

Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/brown-eggs-on-brown-wooden-bowl-on-beige-knit-textile-162712/

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