There's a lot about sleep that we don't understand, like why we even sleep in the first place, for example. Here are some amazing discoveries biologists have made while trying to solve the mystery of sleep.
8 February 2017
RSA: The Myth Gap
Alex Evans of NYU’s Center on International Cooperation argues that
today we have a ‘myth gap’. He visited the RSA to contend that in this
time of global crisis and transition – mass migration, inequality,
resource scarcity and climate change – it is only by finding new myths
that we will navigate our way to a better future. It is stories, rather
than facts and pie-charts, that have the power to animate us and bring
us together to change the world.
Foreign Policy: The Scandals that Could Topple Netanyahu
In short, Netanyahu is currently under investigation for at least three scandals. The first (labeled “Case 1000” by the police) concerns expensive presents that the Netanyahus admitted to accepting from wealthy friends. One of those friends, Arnon Milchan, is an Israeli tycoon living in the United States who made his fortune in the entertainment industry. The police suspect that, over the years, Milchan has given the couple about $180,000 worth of presents — including expensive cigars (for him) and champagne and jewelry (for her). [...]
At the center of the second investigation (“Case 2000”) is another businessman, Arnon Mozes, who is the publisher of Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel’s second-largest daily newspaper.
Netanyahu and Mozes are sworn political enemies but conducted a series of confidential meetings in the months leading up to the 2015 elections. The police suspect that they were discussing a secret deal: Mozes would curtail criticism of the government in his newspaper (and influential website Ynet), and in return the prime minister would make sure that Israel Today, a free daily that amounts to Yedioth’s biggest rival, would print fewer copies. Israel Today was founded in 2007 by Sheldon Adelson, a conservative Jewish American billionaire, in order to support Netanyahu’s political comeback. [...]
The third scandal (“Case 3000”) has yet to be connected directly to Netanyahu. It involves suspicions of wrongdoing regarding negotiations over huge weapons deals between Israel and Germany, in which Israel discussed buying submarines and ships from the German manufacturer ThyssenKrupp. Channel 10 reported that Netanyahu’s personal lawyer, second cousin, and close advisor David Shimron also represents an Israeli businessman who negotiated the deal between the government and the German shipyard.
The Atlantic: The Teenagers Pushing Israel to the Right
With the evacuation underway, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he would build a settlement somewhere in the West Bank to house the families of Amona—the first new one in nearly 26 years. This followed announcements that Israel would build 5,500 housing units in the West Bank and another nearly 600 in East Jerusalem. Estimates place the overall settler population in the West Bank and East Jerusalem between 600,000 and 750,000.
In the past, such behavior would have drawn intense rebuke from the U.S. administration for undermining the two-state solution. But Donald Trump has broken with decades of American foreign policy by declaring that he views settlements as no obstacle to peace, although the White House recently warned that building new ones “may not be helpful.” [...]
The Amona evacuation was nowhere near the scale of Gush Katif, where 8,600 settlers were uprooted, but it contained a similar motif: settlers disillusioned at the leaders who were supposed to protect them. As the evacuation drew near, Naftali Bennett, a champion of settlers in the Knesset, was issued a bodyguard because of threats from right-wing activists for his failure to save Amona. [...]
At sensitive times like the Amona evacuation, the two groups join together with adults in protest that is impossible for the politicians to ignore. Paradoxically, these protesters who rally against the government are also the government’s base. When they speak, Israel’s right-wing politicians, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, listen.
Politico: Merkel gets support (of sorts) from Poland
Merkel stressed the importance of pluralistic societies and an independent judiciary and media. Poland’s government is accused of undermining the judiciary and is being investigated by the Commission and by the Venice Commission, a body of the Council of Europe. “I was pleased to hear that Poland will answer the European Commission and Venice Commission’s questions,” she said.
Before continuing talks with Szydło over dinner, Merkel met with Kaczyński at the elegant Hotel Bristol near Warsaw’s Old Town, rather than PiS’s dowdier headquarters. [...]
At an EU summit in Malta last week, the German chancellor spoke of a “Europe with different speeds.” Such words have traditionally sounded alarm bells in Poland, which is not a member of the eurozone. The day after the Brexit referendum, Kaczyński warned of a “Carolingian” EU centered around the founding member countries that would leave Poland marginalized. [...]
“She wanted to make sure that Kaczyński’s controversial statements about the need for a deep EU treaty reform, re-nationalization of EU powers and a counterweight to Germany would not lead to an obstructionist policy against her primary goal of preserving the EU in the context of Brexit and Donald Trump’s presidency,” he said.
That may be an uphill task – but Kaczyński has acknowledged that Merkel is Poland’s best bet in Berlin. In an interview with Bild last summer he endorsed her for a fourth term as chancellor.
Politico: How Trump will save Europe
The challenge is plain: Trump is not just the first U.S. president who doesn’t actively support the EU; he has also made clear that its disintegration would advance U.S. interests. His stance on global trade, the Paris climate deal and the Iran nuclear deal threaten to unpick key elements of global governance. His back-and-forth on NATO and his coziness with Russian President Vladimir Putin are deeply worrying for the future of European security. And his temporary travel ban on visitors from seven majority-Muslim countries has sown chaos, undermining the international management of the refugee crisis and fanning the flames of Islamic extremism. [...]
There are encouraging signs that the political momentum is shifting in this direction. In Austria, for example, the far-right Freedom Party was defeated in presidential elections. And in France, centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron is leading the polls ahead of elections in Spring. Europe must encourage these trends. [...]
The biggest challenge will be to revolutionize European security cooperation, as a new wave of terror attacks would push voters to nationalist and populist parties. European law enforcement and intelligence agencies have, until now, relied heavily on a successful cooperation with their U.S. counterparts. But intelligence sharing between European countries has lagged, and so an ambitious plan for better European intelligence cooperation must become a top priority.
Motherboard: Canada Is Airdropping Pregnant Bison Into Banff National Park
Following years of deliberation over reintroducing the animals to Banff, where they once roamed by the millions, these 16 individuals were transported out of Elk Island National Park, a nature reserve located on the outskirts of Edmonton, Alberta, which has long been an enclave for wild bison. After an overnight stay at the at Ya Ha Tinda Ranch near Banff, the bison were airlifted into their new range within the park. [...]
These are the first wild bison to set hooves down in Banff National Park in well over a century, after their forebears were over-hunted nearly to the point of extinction during the 1800s. They don't have free range of the park at this point, and will remain in an enclosed pasture in order to acclimate to the new surroundings. Wildlife experts have tagged the herd and will closely monitor its behavior over the next year to make sure the reintroduction process continues smoothly.
From there, the plan is to introduce the animals—and their currently gestating calves—to a larger 1,200-square-kilometre range around June 2018, so that they can further integrate into the local ecosystem. Conservationists hope that this process will mark the first steps towards restoring the animals to their previous role as keystone species in Banff's wild habitats. The program follows the lead of several other bison reintroduction efforts across Rocky Mountains and North American prairies.
Vox: Why Iran’s supreme leader just thanked Trump for his Muslim ban
On Tuesday, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had a rather counterintuitive response: gratitude.
Khamenei said that he considers the opening weeks of Trump’s administration to be a revelation of America’s true character, and was grateful for how it made plain impulses that have typically laid beneath the surface of American policy. [...]
Khamenei’s rhetoric is a prime example of how the US’s political adversaries in the Middle East can easily use Trump’s Islamophobic rhetoric and policies as a tool for recruiting and mobilizing against him. And indeed, Khamenei did just that on Tuesday:
Quartz: Americans think the sexiest languages in the world are…German and Dutch
The dating site PlentyOfFish analyzed 50 million messages sent on their platform in January 2017, and surveyed 325 of their users in the US. The data found that women were most attracted to men who speak German as a second language. For men, it was women who could speak Dutch.
Single men were 73% more likely to send a message to a woman who said she could speak a second language, the research found, while women were 63% more likely to start a conversation with a bilingual than a non-bilingual man. PlentyOfFish advertizes itself as the world’s largest dating site, and has more than 90 million users worldwide. This study only looked at a portion of the US user base.
Michael McDermott, a data scientist at the company who collated the research, said in an email that there were some correlations between being bilingual and other traits that had been found to make people successful on the site. People who listed a second language on their profile were more likely to fill out more information on their profiles generally, and to be more willing to share information about themselves.
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