As the host and executive producer of Trafficked the journalist investigates the inner workings of criminal underworlds taking viewers everywhere from meth labs in Sinaloa to gang dens in South Africa but investigative journalist Mariana van Zeller ’02JRN host of the National Geographic series Trafficked still insists she has one of the best jobs in the world “I have the privilege of experiencing situations that very few people will experience in their lives,” she says “And no matter how far to the edges of society I travel I can still find people who are relatable and redeemable.” Trafficked, whose fifth season premieres in July on the National Geographic channel and Hulu takes viewers deep into the underbelly of the world’s notorious black markets offering a rare and intimate look at the people who drive them van Zeller sets out to untangle the complexities of a criminal enterprise sitting down with the masked masterminds — dealers in drugs and often humans — who are willing to share the details about their nefarious networks “About 38 percent of the global economy consists of black and gray markets,” says van Zeller Van Zeller and her team secure such an incredible degree of access to criminals who with their faces covered and voices distorted are willing to speak on international TV that she is often asked if the show is fake each forty-five-minute episode requires months “I’ve taken trips halfway around the world to meet with people who then turn me down,” adds van Zeller It was van Zeller’s unwavering persistence that kick-started her career “I used to watch the nightly news with my family and I thought the anchors were the most intelligent She applied to Columbia Journalism School — “the most famous best journalism school in the world” — and got rejected (twice) but refused to give up and knock on the dean’s door.” She ended up speaking with associate dean David Klatell for an hour “It was a day that changed my life,” says van Zeller who not only got an education but also met her husband and collaborator the winner of five 2024 News and Documentary Emmys is built on the premise that “people want to be understood and they want to talk about what they do,” says van Zeller “Sometimes their own families don’t even know They see themselves as the best at their jobs and they have no one to boast to.” Many also feel immune to consequences While van Zeller approaches interviews with empathy and an open mind some sources are less relatable than others “The episode we did about assassins was hard,” she says Van Zeller can appear shockingly fearless on camera But a few situations have been legitimately terrifying the Trafficked team was in Niger to investigate the links between gold mining and terrorism when a military coup broke out and we had no way out,” recalls van Zeller “This is one of the most dangerous places on earth with kidnapping squads and groups like ISIS I felt enormous responsibility for my team.” After several days holed up in a remote desert hotel van Zeller and her crew boarded an emergency flight making an escape that capped off one of the show’s most gripping episodes van Zeller isn’t backing down from exposing global trafficking networks and the conditions that enable them “A lot of black markets occur as a result of governments failing us,” she says “We did an episode on how millions of Americans resort to counterfeit pills because they can’t afford to fill their prescriptions I think that says more about systemic failures in the United States than about the black-market operators finding opportunity in those failures.” Despite the dangers of her work and the frequent interactions with scammers It’s a lack of opportunity and jobs that leads most people into lives of crime,” she says “I truly believe that trying to understand why people do what they do is more important than judging them.” and drive with these alumni-founded tourism companies ’84SEAS is one of only 132 athletes to receive the honor General Data Protection Regulation Columbia University Privacy Notice Seton Hall Adds Florida State Transfer Mariana Valenzuela4/29/2025 11:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball drawing on hundreds of sampling stations placed at various depths reveals that microplastics are now omnipresent — from beaches to the high seas from the surface to the ocean’s deepest layers Researchers have also discovered that the carbon in these polymers is becoming part of the ocean’s natural carbon cycle Hundreds of studies have been conducted on the presence of microplastics in the oceans a group of researchers from four continents has compiled data from more than 1,200 of these studies to review their results and supplement their own research They found great variability in the results but noted that most studies relied on surface-level trawl nets and few examined plastic presence throughout the entire water column That’s exactly what this team did — gathering data from the past decade from nearly 2,000 stations at varying depths This allowed them to validate models to estimate how much plastic is in the ocean and where it accumulates “We classified microplastics into two categories with small microplastics predominating numerically,” says Shiye Zhao a researcher at the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology The values (µm) refer to micrometers or microns small pieces sink very slowly and tend to distribute more evenly in the water column compared to larger macroplastics and microplastics,” he adds the researchers observed that larger pieces build up at the surface or the seafloor while smaller ones are less affected by physical ocean barriers small microplastics remain suspended in the water column for longer increasing the likelihood of biological exposure,” Zhao adds The researchers also found great variability depending on the region of the sea Continental shelves showed a median of 500 particles per cubic meter (m³) — 30 times higher than the 16/m³ found in the open sea The team says that this makes sense due to their proximity to pollution sources concentrations drop drastically — by as much as 1,000 times — as depth increases only to rise again until peaking at the depth of the seabed “The marked decrease in microplastics is likely due to the high mineral and biological productivity in coastal waters which accelerates the sinking of aggregated microplastics,” Zhao says produce siliceous frustules [cell layers] that are often found on the surface of microplastics which increases their ballast and facilitates their sinking,” he adds “favor the vertical transport of microplastics in coastal waters,” he concludes the study confirms massive microplastic accumulation in subtropical gyres — large rotating ocean currents like the North Pacific or South Atlantic Gyres The median concentration is several hundred particles per m³ although they do not create so-called plastic islands If we travel to the convergence zones of the subtropical gyres but you won’t see accumulated masses of plastics,” says Patricia Villarrubia Gómez an expert in plastic pollution and the impact of the plastisphere at the Stockholm Resilience Centre in Sweden “The situation is bad enough without the need for exaggeration,” she adds exaggerations distract from the real issue “Plastics are made from fossil fuels and chemicals [also from fossil fuels] that are hazardous to health to address microplastic and plastic pollution of all sizes is to significantly reduce their production,” says Villarrubia The distribution of microplastics at different depths does not follow the gradual pattern observed along coastlines researchers found 1,100 particles per cubic meter between 100 meters — the maximum depth reached by sunlight — and 270 meters along an imaginary north–south transect in the Atlantic concentrations exceeded 2,500 particles per cubic meter This irregular distribution is influenced by pycnoclines — layers of water with higher density caused by temperature or both — where larger microplastic particles can become trapped The median concentration throughout the entire water column was 205 particles per cubic meter The study identified polymers with up to 56 different formulations Although the industry has developed hundreds of ways to combine monomers (molecules) the vast majority of microplastics originate from just seven types of polymers — such as polyethylene and polystyrene — all of which are found in the ocean These long chemical chains can contain nearly 16,000 different chemical substances but one element appears consistently: fossil-derived carbon The deep-sea analysis revealed that up to 5% of the carbon present is now of plastic origin Aron Stubbins studies the carbon cycle at Northeastern University in the United States The circulation of this element is fundamental to life “The situation is similar to that of human health: we are rapidly discovering that plastics are present in our blood we are not yet fully aware of the health problems caused by our exposure to them,” recalls Stubbins senior author of the study published in Nature we are also discovering the extent of plastics we are starting to consider its potential impact on marine life and the oceanic carbon cycle.” Aron Stubbins’ work was supported by the U.S National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate for Geosciences Division of Ocean Sciences Chemical Oceanography Program and the NSF Directorate for Engineering Division of Chemical Environmental and Transport Systems Environmental Engineering program Stubbins and other colleagues analyzed the possible impact of plastic on what’s known as marine snow “The term refers to organic carbon particles produced by life at the ocean’s surface that sink to the deep ocean transporting carbon to the depths and removing it from the atmosphere,” he explains But when mixed with plastic-based snow the incorporation of plastics into marine snow slows the flow of carbon into the deep ocean reducing the ocean’s ability to capture atmospheric carbon dioxide and offset human-caused climate change,” he concludes The authors have also quantified another effect that will complicate matters for scientists One of the main tools for dating the past — whether in archaeology or natural processes — is carbon-14 But the input of plastic-derived carbon is distorting the ratio of this radioactive isotope throwing off this natural clock by up to 400 years who studies plastic pollution at the University of Cádiz in Spain the narrative about ocean plastic pollution has focused primarily on beaches and the extensive accumulation zones that form on the ocean’s surface.” But this new work “expands our understanding of the problem definitively confirming that the plastic problem doesn’t end at the ocean’s surface.” His concerns about the deep ocean’s ecosystems are now backed by data reaching depths exceeding 2,000 meters,” he says we enter what is known as the bathypelagic stratum of the ocean quite disconnected from the rest of the planet the water isn’t renewed for hundreds of years In the dark and warm conditions of the deep ocean microplastics will be practically eternal.” Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition ¿Quieres añadir otro usuario a tu suscripción ¿Por qué estás viendo esto? cambia tu suscripción a la modalidad Premium Cada uno accederá con su propia cuenta de email lo que os permitirá personalizar vuestra experiencia en EL PAÍS ¿Tienes una suscripción de empresa? Accede aquí para contratar más cuentas En el caso de no saber quién está usando tu cuenta, te recomendamos cambiar tu contraseña aquí. Si decides continuar compartiendo tu cuenta, este mensaje se mostrará en tu dispositivo y en el de la otra persona que está usando tu cuenta de forma indefinida, afectando a tu experiencia de lectura. Puedes consultar aquí los términos y condiciones de la suscripción digital. Get our award-winning print editions of The Daily Pennsylvanian delivered to your doorstep every week The Daily Pennsylvanian is a student-run nonprofit Please support us by disabling your ad blocker on our site Senior Columnist Mariana Martinez critically examines meritocracy and social mobility in elite educational settings American academia: A matter of national security The Longchamp tote: Is twinning winning? delivered to your inbox every weekday morning The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn 2025) - Utah Royals FC announce Mariana Cabral as the newest addition to Head Coach Jimmy Coenraets’ staff Cabral will join the URFC staff as assistant coaches prior to the 2025 NWSL season former Sporting Clube de Portugal head coach arrives to the Wasatch Front from Lisbon after leading Sporting CP to 2nd place in Portugal’s Campeonato Nacional de Futbol Femenino during the 2023-2024 season The former player who appeared for Sociedade União 1.º Dezembro decided to hang up her boots at the age of 25 and pursue journalism After a successful journalist stint that included interviews with soccer icons Cabral transitioned into the coaching world splitting time with the Sporting U-19 squad and the world of journalism In 2021 Cabral left her full-time job as a journalist and became the head coach of Sporting Clube de Portugal In Cabral’s first match under helm Sporting defeated Sport Lisboa e Benfica 2-0 in the 6th edition of the Supertaça de Portugal Feminina Sporting finished second in the league for two consecutive years adding another Supertaça de Portugal Feminina title last August Utah Royals FC returns to action after flipping the script under Head Coach Coenraets finishing the 2024 season 5-4-2, 17 pts under Coenraets helm. Hosting 2024 expansion sibling Bay FC at America First Field on March 15 URFC look to continue its unbeaten streak against Bay after completing the 2024 sweep. Don’t miss this year's action, season tickets are available now at https://www.rsl.com/utahroyals/tickets/ Please press and hold the button until it turns completely green If you believe this is an error, please contact our support team 147.45.197.102 : 13e76f6b-18b9-44ae-b62b-3fac1508 The University of Pennsylvania has named Mariana Valdes-Fauli the associate vice president of Student Registration and Financial Services (SRFS) Valdes-Fauli comes to Penn from the University of Miami where she served as the assistant vice president of Service and Experience Excellence for the last six years she created and developed the university’s first one-stop shop to support students with financial aid She also partnered with colleagues to find innovative ways to make the student journey a more positive and efficient one and to educate and support staff and students on regulatory and legal compliance she served as chief of staff to the EVP and chief operating officer at the University of Miami and senior vice president for Human Resources at Strayer Education Inc “I am excited to welcome Mariana to Penn and look forward to working together as we continue to enhance the wide range of services we offer our students,” says Vice President for Finance and Treasurer Mark F. Dingfield “Mariana brings a tremendous amount of experience in leading large interconnected teams with a focus on delivering excellent student service and financial oversight.” from the University of Florida College of Law in human resource development from Villanova University and a bachelor’s degree from Smith College Valdes-Fauli will be responsible for leading SRFS’s work in student records and registration as well as the services provided through the Student Service Center She will partner with Penn schools with a focus on service quality and operational effectiveness at all levels the ambitious Dakar Greenbelt project seeks to create an extensive network of ecological infrastructure in and around the city to sustainably address environmental concerns and enhance urban life With support from David Gouverneur and Ellen Neises candidate Rob Levinthal in the Weitzman School of Design led two courses that included a field trip to Dakar that culminated in students presenting their visions for parts of the Greenbelt The new Vagelos Laboratory for Energy Science and Technology boasts adaptable laboratory spaces to support the dynamic needs of pioneering research The latest scientific research at the deepest part of the ocean has revealed something extraordinary – biodiversity is extensive and flourishing despite the extreme conditions On March 6, the scientific journal Cell, featured a cover story, systematically revealing the ecological characteristics of the hadal zone at water depths exceeding 6,000 meters. These findings mark the latest results from the Mariana Trench Environment and Ecology Research (MEER) Project a collaboration launched in 2021 by Shanghai Jiao Tong University the Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering (IDSSE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences “Our study not only redefines our understanding of the limits of deep-sea life but also unveils an ‘extreme survival manual’ written through hundreds of millions of years of evolution,” explained Dr while covering just 1–2% of the ocean floor accounts for the deepest 45% of the ocean’s vertical depth and near-freezing temperatures create an environment that commonly considered inhabitable by only a few specialized organisms The findings uncovered an extraordinary diversity of hadal microorganisms with over 7,564 newly identified species-level genomes nearly 90% of which had never been documented in public databases Sampling and extraordinary novelty of the Deepest Ocean microbiome revealed by the MEER dataset — Cell The microorganisms have developed a unique set of evolutionary traits for energy intake and pressure resistance in order to survive at the deepest sea levels the research team made fascinating discoveries about an amphipoda species that thrives at depths of 6,800 to 11,000 meters – where pressure is equivalent to balancing an SUV on a fingertip The researchers also examined 11 species of deep-sea fish uncovering remarkable genetic adaptations that allow them to survive in extreme depths One of the most surprising findings challenges a long-standing scientific assumption about deep-sea adaptation Previous research suggested that trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) a compound that stabilizes proteins under high pressure this study found no significant rise in TMAO levels in fish living below 6,000 meters All genomic data generated by this research has been made freely accessible to the global scientific community through online platforms Sampling sites of sediment samples in the hadal zones – Cell Microbial ecosystems and ecological driving forces in the deepest ocean sediments ex-NASA Space Station Payload manager/space biologist Devon Island and Everest Base Camp veteran having a positive relationship with your mentor is the linchpin of your success but how do you build these crucial ties and get the mentoring you need This academic year, we’re interviewing faculty-graduate student pairs about what makes their mentoring relationships work From practical tips to broader perspectives these Q&As will equip you with ideas and tactics for improving your own mentoring relationships This week, we’re speaking with Jonathon Thomalla, a Ph.D. candidate in biochemistry, molecular and cell biology, and Mariana Wolfner distinguished professor of molecular biology and genetics and Stephen H Weiss Presidential Fellow in Molecular Biology and Genetics Read the full Q&A on the Cornell University Graduate School website.  Sep 10, 2024 | Press Releases Michelle Lujan Grisham today announced the appointment of Mariana Padilla as Cabinet Secretary for the New Mexico Public Education Department Padilla has served as the Director of the New Mexico Children’s Cabinet since the start of the administration leading the Governor’s child and family well-being agenda She also serves as the Governor’s senior education policy advisor and worked across state agencies to implement key initiatives and system-wide improvements Her accomplishments include establishing the New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department and driving the Governor’s Cradle to Career education agenda supporting students from birth through college and career readiness “Mariana’s deep roots in New Mexico and her lifelong commitment to children and families make her the right leader for this moment,” Gov “Her work has been instrumental in shaping our state’s education system and I am confident that she will continue to bring positive change for New Mexico’s students.” Padilla has stepped in as acting cabinet secretary for both the Public Education Department and the Children and has served on numerous boards and councils including the Public School Capital Outlay Council which oversees and awards capital projects for schools statewide Padilla will prioritize improving academic achievement increasing student attendance and engagement and creating pathways to college and career She is committed to building school communities where all students feel supported and can thrive “I am incredibly honored to be appointed by Gov Lujan Grisham to lead the New Mexico Public Education Department,” Padilla said “My career has been focused on serving the communities and families of our state I am committed to working collaboratively with students and community partners to achieve the outcomes we all want to see I share the sense of urgency to deliver for our kids.” Padilla began her career as an elementary school teacher in her hometown of Albuquerque’s South Valley She later earned dual master’s degrees in community and regional planning and water resources from the University of New Mexico Before becoming the Director of the Children’s Cabinet she served as the state director for then-Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham for six years overseeing New Mexico policy and constituent services Padilla was raised in Albuquerque’s South Valley where she attended Albuquerque Public Schools alongside her three siblings she has dedicated her career to education and public service She and her husband are proud parents of three daughters all of whom attend public schools in Santa Fe The Office of Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham is located on the fourth floor of the New Mexico State Capitol in Room 400 Address:490 Old Santa Fe Trail Room 400Santa Fe Phone: (505) 476-2200Toll free: (833) 520-0020 Senior columnist Mariana Martinez summarizes Penn fashion through two main factors: socioeconomic status and race A world without foreign aid Why 'staying safe' is not enough « Back Latin American Corporate Counsel Association In an interview with LACCA, the legal heads of BHP, Vale and Samarco discuss Acordo Mariana – a US$23 billion settlement agreement for the victims of the worst environmental disaster in Brazilian history – highlighting how the return of President Lula, the leadership of in-house lawyers and expert external counsel shaped their “best attempt to make peace with society”. Get news, unique commentary, expert analysis and essential resources from the Latin Lawyer experts. Copyright © Law Business ResearchCompany Number: 03281866 VAT: GB 160 7529 10 Get more from LLSign up to our daily email alert Unlock unlimited access to all Latin Lawyer content Reporting by Eliana Raszewski; Writing by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Sandra Maler Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab , opens new tab Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts. , opens new tabScreen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks. © 2025 Reuters. All rights reserved and maybe make some more history along the way By Grace GouldingMost judoka arrive at major championships backed by teams Guinea’s Mariana Esteves often arrives alone Earlier this year, the Paris 2024 Olympian took home her country’s first-ever World Judo Tour medal, bronze in the Grand Prix in Austria. This weekend, the 29-year-old will step onto the tatami at the African Judo Championships on 25 April, with a chance to become a three-time continental champion for Guinea. Quietly, steadily, she has built a career that her younger self could only dream of; one marked by resilience, a deep love for the sport, and a few loving texts from dad. Olympics.com takes a closer look at her story. Esteves was five years old when she first glimpsed the sport that would change her life. A shy girl sitting cross-legged in a school gym in Lisbon in Portugal, she watched others tumble and grapple in white uniforms while staying rooted in place, observing. Her mother, who wanted her daughter to learn how to defend herself, had enrolled her at Colégio Manuel Bernardes. But defence soon turned to devotion. Because something in that room, in those movements, in that energy, spoke to her, and judo became more than just an activity that mom wanted her to pursue. It soon became the rhythm of her entire life. “Judo is everything for me,” she told Olympics.com. “I grew up with judo, and all my life was adjusted to it. It’s about sharing knowledge and the same passion. Learning and teaching with others.” As a teenager, Esteves rose quickly through the ranks in Portugal: Portuguese U17 and U21 champion, European Cup winner, bronze medallist at the 2015 Junior World Championships in Abu Dhabi. But it wasn’t until she chose to fight for Guinea, her mother’s ancestral homeland, that she found her truest sense of purpose. “My mom was born in Africa,” she told the IJF in a recent interview. “Since I was little, I listened to her stories about her childhood and the lifestyle she had. When I started to fight for Guinea in 2022, it was my passport to freedom.” But that freedom hasn’t come easy. Esteves often travels alone to international competitions. There are no entourages, no teams of physios or sports psychologists waiting for her after her fights. Her daily life is also full to the brim: working full-time as a physical education teacher, leading judo sessions for children, squeezing her own training into lunch breaks and late evenings. “It’s a non-stop day that doesn’t give me time to complain,” she said. “So when I go to training, it has to be a good training.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Mariana Esteves Teiga OLY (@mesteves46) In 2024, that discipline and determination paid off, as Esteves secured a coveted Olympic quota for her country and earned her place on sport’s biggest stage. On competition day, she won her opening bout on the Olympic tatami before falling to eventual bronze medallist Sarah-Léonie Cysique of France. It wasn’t the result Esteves had hoped for, but the experience meant everything. “Paris 2024 was a magical moment,” she told us. “I enjoyed every second. In the end, I just wanted to do it all over again.” The experience also reminded her why sticking with something, even when it’s hard, matters so much. “One big lesson I take is that hard work will always beat talent,” she said. “No matter where we start, if we believe, and we work, we can reach the goal.” Even though she stepped onto the Olympic stage without the backing that many athletes have, Esteves carried her nation’s colours with pride and grace. Next time around, Esteves wants to make a deeper mark. “I want to do more in the Olympic Games in Los Angeles than I did in the last one. I want to win more fights, to be one of the candidates for a medal. And I know I have to work a lot. But now, I have the right motivation.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Mariana Esteves Teiga OLY (@mesteves46) Esteves claimed a historic bronze medal: her first podium on the IJF World Tour as well as Guinea’s first ever she faced junior world champion Riko Honda of Japan Esteves stunned her opponent with such commitment that there could only be one result: ippon It was the kind of statement win that echoes far beyond the scoreboard “I believe that some things happen for a reason even if we don’t always understand why in the moment,” she shared on social media afterwards “Today was one of those days where everything made sense Another historic moment I’ll carry with me forever.” she wrote what might as well be the mission statement of her judo journey: “Even though I was alone at the competition I have an amazing team always just a message away." but it only works with a team,” she later echoed to Olympics.com who texts her messages of love and courage before each bout all form the invisible threads that wrap around her like her black belt every time she steps onto the tatami “Let’s go girl,” her father texted on the day of her bronze medal “You have four minutes to fight; you don’t need to finish in 20 seconds.” With César’s guidance and her own relentless work ethic, Esteves has grown into a leader in African judo. She’s a two-time African champion, and this weekend, she hopes to make it three. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Mariana Esteves Teiga OLY (@mesteves46) “I would love to make that difference,” she said “To help girls see that it’s possible to be female she remembers thinking that judo was “for boys.” Now she is living proof that strength wears many forms and that women can throw judo means a life opportunity,” she continued “It can open doors to the world and connect with different cultures It brings a light to daily life where everyone is equal and there are no differences.” as the world looks toward the African Judo Championships And one thing is certain: she will always bring her best has been part of judo since its earliest days It echoes the philosophy that judo’s founder built the sport upon: “Where there is effort and for all the girls still watching from the sidelines waiting for someone like her to show them the way Mariana Hernández Ampudia is a multimedia journalist from Mexico City currently pursuing a master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism Her reporting focuses on Latino communities in the United States independent women-led media company that covers foreign affairs and the United Nations with a focus on women’s issues and the impact of major world powers on ordinary citizens We are strongly committed to high-quality original reporting and our team strives to ensure that these powers are accountable for their actions and decisions Don't miss a  story,  Subscribe to PassBlue We respect your privacy and take protecting it seriously Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker subscribeExplore Topics:AIBiotechnologyRoboticsComputingFutureScienceSpaceEnergyTechScienceScientists Discover Thousands of New Microbial Species Thriving in the Mariana TrenchThe project explores how life adapts to extreme environments—and hopes to inspire new drugs or even treatments to aid space travel A human can’t survive in the Mariana Trench without protection the trench plunges 35,000 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean to a region reigned by crushing pressure and darkness A carpet of bacteria breaks down dead sea creatures and plankton to recycle nutrients We’ve only scratched the surface of what thrives in the deepest regions of the ocean But a large project has now added over 6,000 new microbes to the deep-sea species tally Another team assembled the genomes of 11 deep-sea fish and found a mutated gene that could boost their ability to survive. Sequencing the genome of a giant shrimp-like creature suggested bacteria boosted its metabolism to adapt to high-pressure environments Studying these mysterious species could yield new medications to fight infections, inflammation, or even cancer. They show how creatures adapt to extreme environments, which could be useful for engineering pressure- or radiation-resistant proteins for space exploration Oceans cover roughly 70 percent of the Earth’s surface Yet we know very little about their inhabitants others manned—have sought to explore the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean it could completely submerge Mount Everest The pressure is over 1,000 times greater than that at sea level and at Challenger Deep—the deepest point navigated to date—the temperature is just above freezing The seabed there is shrouded in complete darkness is a trove of alien species yet to be discovered The MEER project is collecting specimens from the deepest trenches across the world to learn more MEER relies on a deep-sea submersible called Fendouzhe Fendouzhe is self-propelled and can survive freezing temperatures and tremendous pressure It holds three crew members and has two mechanical arms bristling with devices—cameras The submersible reached the bottom of the Mariana Trench in 2020 followed by missions  to the Yap Trench and Philippine Basin Scientists on board gathered over 1,600 sediment samples from multiple hadal zones between 6 and 11 kilometers Added to the punishing pressure and lack of light the deep sea is low on environmental nutrients It’s truly “a unique combination that sets it apart from all other marine and terrestrial environments,” wrote the authors Sediments hold genetic material that survives intact when brought to the surface for analysis Sign up to receive top stories about groundbreaking technologies and visionary thinkers from SingularityHub One study sketched a landscape of living creatures in the deep ocean using an approach called metagenomics. Here, scientists sequenced genetic material from all microbes within an environment, allowing them to reconstruct a birds-eye view of the ecology the collection is “10-fold larger than all previously reported,” wrote the team Over 89 percent of the genomes are entirely new suggesting most belong to previously unknown microbial species living in the deep ocean Samples collected from other trenches have varying genetic profiles, suggesting the microbes learned to adapt to various deep ocean environments. But they share similar genetic changes. Several genes bump up their ability to digest toluene as food. The chemical is mostly known for manufacturing paints, plastics, medications, and cosmetics. Other genes wipe out metabolic waste products called reactive oxygen species. In large amounts, these damage DNA and lead to aging and disease. The creatures also have a beefed-up DNA repair system. This could help them adapt to intense pressure and frigid temperatures, both of which increase the chances of these damaging chemicals wreaking havoc. Meanwhile, other studies peered into the genetic makeup of fish and shrimp-like creatures in the hadal zone. In one, scientists collected samples using the Fendouzhe submersible and an autonomous rover, covering locations from the Mariana Trench to the Indian Ocean. The team zeroed in on roughly 230 genes in deep-sea fish that boost survival under pressure. Most of these help repair DNA damage. Others increase muscle function. Surprisingly, all 11 species of deep-sea fish studied shared a single genetic mutation. Engineering the same mutation in lab-grown cells helped them more efficiently turn DNA instructions into RNA—the first step cells take when making the proteins that coordinate our bodily functions. This is “likely to be advantageous in the deep-sea environment,” wrote the team. Top predators in the deep rely on a steady supply of prey—mainly, a shrimp-like species called amphipods. Whole genome sequencing of these creatures showed the shrimp thrive thanks to various good bacteria that help them defend against other bacterial species. There are also some other intriguing findings. For example, while most deep-sea fish have lost genes associated with vision, one species showed gene activity related to color vision. These genes are similar to ours and could potentially let them see color even in total darkness. Scientists are still digging through the MEER database. The coalition hopes to bolster our understanding of the most resilient lifeforms on Earth—and potentially inspire journeys into other extreme environments, like outer space. Dr. Shelly Xuelai Fan is a neuroscientist-turned-science-writer. She's fascinated with research about the brain, AI, longevity, biotech, and especially their intersection. As a digital nomad, she enjoys exploring new cultures, local foods, and the great outdoors. Be Part of the FutureSign up to receive top stories about groundbreaking technologies and visionary thinkers from SingularityHub. SingularityHub chronicles the technological frontier with coverage of the breakthroughs Sports reporter Guillermo Motta had a chance to sit down with Mariana Rosette The Portland State golfer is now a professional golfer and has returned from her first pro event in Louisiana Technology has hidden side effects -- we reveal them here Rodney Baldus thought he was going to leave his daughter an inheritance so she could save the family farm the 74-year-old man is sitting in a crowded jail cell in Mozambique with little hope of ever getting out is terrified her diabetic father will die alone in Africa The story was largely ignored until it was brought to life recently by journalist Mariana van Zeller, host of National Geographics TV show, Trafficked.  Mariana then reached out to me, hoping to get even more attention to Rodney’s situation. She spoke to us for this very special episode of AARP’S The Perfect Scam. Baldus was distraught and lonely after the death of his wife and what felt like a fading family legacy So when an email arrived suggesting his late wife was entitled to an inheritance the email writer invited Rodney to Africa to sign some paperwork the writer paid for Rodney’s plane ticket and hotel room Rodney dug out his passport and went on the adventure After a stopover in Mozambique to collect some documents he was handed a package of “candy” to bring with him on the next leg of his journey But Rodney was stopped at the airport; inspectors found 9 kilos of heroin in that candy He was convicted in a one-day trial and sentenced to 18 years — a life term for the 70-something American FBI agents intercept would-be mules from leaving the country before the crimes are committed As conditions at the overcrowded jail deteriorate, and legal appeals seem fruitless, Rodney’s daughter Nicole reached out to Mariana, saying the TV show might be her last hope.  Mariana took up the cause, flying to Mozambique to interview Rodney. She brought Nicole with her; when father and daughter embrace in the show, you won’t be able to avoid crying. You can watch the show here.  Trafficked also tracked down the criminals who lured Rodney to Africa These kinds of stories are so heartbreaking that it’s easy to look away; we shouldn’t No purpose is served by Rodney Baldus dying in jail in Mozambique So I share this today in the hopes this podcast will help get attention to Rodney’s situation and the right mixture of diplomacy and mercy will lead to a happy ending I’ve written many times recently: international crime gangs are becoming more powerful Their cover stories continue to evolve; their powers of persuasion continue to grow The next Rodney Baldus could very well be someone you love So share this piece with those you care about from someone and transport it across a national boundary Your life could change in the blink of an eye You can listen to the episode by clicking here, or by streaming it wherever you get podcasts.  A partial transcript of the story is pasted below ———————-PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT—————– [00:10:46] Bob: So eventually you get to the point where you write to Rodney’s scammers someone else who’s interested in the story and you want to pick up where he left off with the inheritance [00:11:03] Mariana van Zeller: Very little I didn’t think that it was actually going to happen we’re going to try and reach out to this pers– all the emails that he received and we thought well let’s try and write back to some of these emails and see if anyone replies The criminals who lured Rodney to Africa now think they can do the same thing to Mariana [00:11:31] Mariana van Zeller: And so we started communicating with them and then through our investigation we found out that a lot of these groups operate out of South Africa which borders Mozambique and there is a large community of immigrants realized that the drug trafficking operation and the these scamming operations sort of go through many times eith– either go through South Africa or their South Africans then go to Mozambique to while they are still believing that we are somewhat related to Rodney we told them that we were going to be in South Africa and we’d like to meet them in person but there’s no chance that they will actually say yes to meeting us in person in South Africa [00:12:20] Bob: Rodney’s criminals or at least whoever is behind the emails that lured Rodney to Africa Mariana first heads to Rodney’s lawyer and well the first thing he says is that he basically thinks Rodney’s guilty that only a child would have believed that inheritance story And as for the $5000 he’d asked for to bribe the judge [00:12:59] Mariana van Zeller: I asked him about He denied it and he said that the money was for his fees but obviously I have emails were it very clearly stated that he was asking for money to bribe uh the judge [00:13:11] Bob: And then Mariana and her team turn their attention to getting access to Rodney [00:13:17] Bob: Was it hard for you to get in the jail with your cameras and we were told that we were the only camera team that had ever been allowed to this uh high security prison called Nashapa which is just on the outskirts of the capital Maputo And you know terrible conditions; the prisoners sleeping on the floor Mariana and her cameras are allowed into the prison to meet Rodney [00:13:56] Bob: What was your impression when you talked in the place [00:13:59] Mariana van Zeller: They had um obviously he wasn’t in his regular cell uh air-conditioned room where we were supposed to do the interview with him you could see his health was deteriorating I feel like I’m just walking right into a nightmare that I I don’t even know if I want to hear the next details you’re going to share with me [00:14:41] Bob: But Mariana does get to sit down and hear Rodney’s side of the story from across a prison table [00:14:48] Rodney: I did not expect to end up in this situation I’m not guilty of being a drug trafficker Rodney doesn’t seem all that interested in Nicole’s efforts to free him from prison [00:15:24] Mariana van Zeller: I think Rodney hasn’t been very lucky in his life I think that he has a wonderful family and that’s um and he’s had a bunch of unlucky things happen in his life he tried his best to prove his innocence as much as he could but there was a sense that when I met him that he had just sort of decided that this was his fate it took some time for Nicole to convince him to talk to us because he didn’t see an upside to it He said he had tried to speak to so many lawyers and so and that nobody he felt was really willing or willing to help him And so he didn’t see any upside to speaking to us you’re a drug runner.” And I said I’m not.” But nobody believed a word I said it’s terrible because that the only thing that you have going for you in a situation like this would be hope Hope that things are going to change and somebody’s going to believe you you know that you’re going to be able to be released and and go home I just felt like he’s lost all hope and yes he believes he’s going to die in prison [00:17:17] Bob: But Mariana did not come into the prison alone Her crew had cleared the way for Rodney’s daughter [00:17:25] Bob: Here’s that moment from the show Trafficked [00:17:28] Mariana: Did you ever think that you’d be coming to Mozambique [00:17:37] Mariana van Zeller: Nicole Baldus has made the 9,000-mile journey from small town Minnesota to Maputo [00:17:45] Mariana van Zeller: What has he said about you But I told him that it’s not up to him anymore four years is a long time to go without being a parent that you’re used to seeing almost every day [00:18:14] Mariana van Zeller: Separated by thousands of miles this is the first time that Nicole has embraced her father since the morning he boarded that fateful flight to Mozambique [00:18:23] Rodney Baldus: It’s good to see you [00:18:38] Mariana van Zeller: You know the moment that we brought Nicole into the prison and seeing her after four years of not seeing her father hugging him was you know one of the most emotional experiences I’ve ever had filming this show [00:18:54] Bob: But the reunion doesn’t get them any closer to understanding what really happened to Rodney Mariana is going to have to meet with the criminals and try to get some real answers Mariana is pretending to be a family member trying to collect Rodney’s inheritance [00:19:14] Mariana van Zeller: And so we organized a whole sort of undercover operation where I had several undercover cameras with me a security team because we’d been told so I had two security people with me watching me [00:19:37] Bob: The team wires up the hotel lobby with cameras installs a hidden camera on Mariana herself and arranges to sit down with Rodney’s criminal in as public a setting as is possible Private security guards are waiting in the wings but right away there’s a scary curveball [00:19:57] Bob: And so you set up all of these safety mechanisms because someone had said to you and the first thing that happens when he walks in is he asks you to move to a different spot [00:20:11] Mariana van Zeller: Immediately I’m not sure if he does this every time or if he was suspicious but this is where you understand that these guys are not amateurs he’d agreed to meet me in a public place I told him that I was staying at that hotel first he asked me to move to another locate– because we had the whole security team in place watching me at that location We also had cameras filming me at that location because he wanted to make sure that I was the person who’d been communicating with him [00:21:00] Bob: So many of the cameras will no longer work and Mariana is farther from her safety team than she should be [00:21:08] Mariana van Zeller: I wasn’t I wanted to make sure that I was doing Rodney’s story justice and that I was going to be able to get what I needed from this person to prove that Rodney was [00:21:28] Bob: Shaking but not particularly scared Mariana makes sure she’s talking to the right person [00:21:37] Mariana van Zeller: When I mentioned Rodney he’d been one of the people in a group that was emailing Rodney all those times and he’s connected to that group 100% [00:21:52] Bob: And what Mariana learns from the conversation is that there is an entire network of criminals who spend their time luring Westerners to Africa to either get their money or to use them as mules to move around drugs or other illegal contraband She leaves the meeting with a secret video that should help prove to anyone who sees it that Rodney is innocent but she needs to do more to understand the crime gang So she reaches out to other people in the underground crime world there [00:22:22] Bob: You start to immediately find some sources and and one of them says something to you that really sent chills down my spine which is once they’ve hooked you in some way with one of these emails And when they realize they can’t uh sometimes it seems that what happened in Rodney’s case taken away all the money they can take from you eventually a person is left with no more money to give and they then sell them they sell the victims to drug trafficking groups that then use these victims as drug mules then taxed — crime victims who are wiped out are getting IRS bills and website in this browser for the next time I comment Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser or activate Google Chrome Frame to improve your experience Rachel Cockerell and Lili Anolik in conversation Online Only Mariana Mogilevich piling up all the books and journal articles produced on Richard Serra and how closely those stacks might equal the 320 tons (or 11 ½ feet) of Equal eight boxes of equal volume but different dimensions stacked so that the immediate impression is one of simultaneous solidity and precarity Over the past half century the art history industry has produced reams of interpretation incorporating no shortage of words by Serra himself The author of work so totally laconic has set the terms of its understanding as if the death of the author bypassed him entirely I think of the spokesartist Robert Motherwell who expended an awful lot of energy not so much on auto-interpretation as on ennobling a generation of abstract expressionist men the painting by Serra influence Barnett Newman After shoring up his and his friends’ reputations Motherwell spent his later career relentlessly churning out canvases to finance his East Hampton house and lifestyle Less defined by the company he kept than the space he occupied designed by the same architect who transformed so many industrial structures for the display of his sculptures and who built a weekend house next door on the tip of Long Island’s more rugged but still very expensive North Fork In search of a distinct and poetic angle of coverage following Serra’s death a Bloomberg writer reported on the current location of Tilted Arc which was not a mystery but a federal warehouse in Virginia was a public commission for a miserable Lower Manhattan plaza from which Serra’s cor-ten intervention more boundary wall than sculptural embellishment unleashed a major episode in the 1980s culture wars as well as disciplinary debates about the nature of site specificity and the function of public art Frustrated at the reception of sculptures that were not embedded in the fabric of New York City but very much aimed at taking up space there Serra gave up on that hostile public realm for more receptive settings in European cities and museum interiors and a very stable place in the pantheon of late 20th-century art Passing from banishment from the city into spaces custom-built to accommodate it though the material in question was so often steel as the work and its artist formally pass into the space of history what kind of space does Serra take up in it Perceptive critics noted early on that Serra’s sculpture only made sense in relation to its time and place and gave meaning only to those specific conditions against which it unfolded We might apply such a phenomenological approach a deambulatory one (as the very eminent art historian Yve-Alain Bois proposed when both of their careers were still in their youth to the work as a whole: a “picturesque stroll” through the landscapes and ultimately produced or dominated as his work found a privileged place in our late-modern world as emplaced in the contexts or sites it has specifically confronted we can see how it frames our cultural and social investments in urban space: what is hostile and what is safe destroyed over the span of eight short years—casts a shadow larger than much of what followed and preceded it But Serra had long before left the confines of the studio for New York’s streetscape and beyond The artist placed his first piece in the public realm in 1970 not too long after his friend Robert Smithson made a rock spiral in a Utah lake bed not so distant in time or place from Claes Oldenburg’s proposals for monumental sculptures in the form of Good Humor bars and lipsticks on tank treads was an inlaid steel ring made of semicircles of two widths and significant depth framing the cracks and potholes of 183rd Street and framed by a scene of general dereliction It’s not surprising that whoever within the administration of Mayor John Lindsay would have even had the authority to approve this granted Serra permission to install his work there given its status as part of an urban renewal area on or in front of a vast lot where a public housing megastructure would soon go up after years of delay Serra described the site as “sinister”: a hangout spot for “local criminals” and dumping ground for the cars they stole In contrast to the land art produced in remote outposts of the American West and consumed back in the art world as saleable representation Serra sought to drive viewers to confront his artwork on site But the public either found the embodied experience on offer uninteresting or too daunting and To Encircle exists primarily as a photograph of a giant stamped out manhole cover the West Bronx’s extreme topography providing a perfect vantage point for the picture The art critic and scholar Douglas Crimp wrote in 1986 that Serra failed in his attempt to create an environmental sculpture that would not exist primarily as a photographic image: “It was Serra’s misconception that anyone from the art world was interested enough in sculpture to venture into that ‘sinister’ outpost in the Bronx.” Ultimately the work found its way to a site of display more amenable to an art public though it is still likely to escape notice Serra’s SoHo gallerist Leo Castelli sold the circle to a couple of St where it’s now installed down the driveway from a very big Oldenburg three-hole plug The sculpture is set discreetly into the smooth asphalt that runs between the grand staircase to the museum’s colonnaded entry and the rear end of an equestrian statue of St who overlooks well-preserved grounds and symmetrical fountain dating to the 1904 World’s Fair Art lovers can step on it as they get out of their cars Serra was commissioned to install not one but two large public sculptures closer to his art-world neighbors in lower Manhattan was set on a leftover triangle facing the stairway down to the Franklin Street 1/9 and named for the Transit Workers Union whose eleven-day strike in defiance of years of municipal austerity concluded Offset from the entry to their workplace—an unceremonious hole in the ground—and extruded thirty-six feet in the air the sculpture was one in a series of “prop pieces” of tall steel slabs or five slabs could lean against each other to form a funnel or chimney (which they did which fit together like a factory reject I-beam more on the lean than ready to support anything The artist David Hammons had Dawoud Bey document him installing his own “prop piece” balancing the mundane contents of his shoulder bag and the shoulder bag in a miniature composition in the sculpture’s embrace and having an encounter with an NYPD officer—real staged?—who issued a summons for these unruly acts On another occasion Hammons threw twenty-five pairs of laced-together shoes over the top of T.W.U. thus enlisting it in another register of urban threat and mystery Hammons’s installation and performance doesn’t ask what this self-important steel stand was doing there but suggests it didn’t matter much: Serra’s installation was nothing more than a piece of poorly maintained street furniture in a hostile environment A second sculpture swept horizontally across the interior of the traffic circle that unfurls cars from the Holland Tunnel—which could hardly have bothered anyone at all if they even noticed it as they made their way around the leftover infrastructural site Johns Rotary Arc looked a lot like the Tilted one installed across town fourteen months later did not so much unleash as endure a controversy fabricated by an aggrieved federal judge that played out in sham hearings the proceedings carefully archived and published by Serra and his wife a rotating posse that would include the conservative judge and US District Attorney Rudolph Giuliani rejected the non-affirmative nature of the piece a piece that didn’t fit in with any idea of a public monument or marketplace amenities and less obliquely than Hammons had on Franklin Street they strung it up on charges of urban danger: graffiti canvas limited visibility a risk factor for drug deals or a terrorist attack Some Serra partisans pointed out in public testimony and subsequent post-mortems that Tilted Arc’s somewhat hostile act may not have improved conditions in the windswept plaza but it certainly didn’t make them any worse ascribing to the work a critical indictment of a less than public-facing Serra’s casting of aspersion on a grim slice of public space has the critical weight of a guy “just asking questions”: partially informed and after September 11 Tilted Arc would have been taken down or found practical use at last as a blast wall The last quarter century of antiterror designs define the entrance sequence to see the Serra on display at the Museum of Modern Art: bollards The $30 admission fee offers a final layer of protection although the only violence committed there came at the hands of a mentally ill patron of the cinematheque There is only one work of Serra’s on display at the institution where retrospectives burnished his standing while Tilted Arc was being dismantled and again twenty-one years later: the aforementioned weighty steel stacks of Equal “It’s not stable!” my safety-conscious son exclaimed on first encounter “Let’s go see something more beautiful,” his friend proposed have placed Serra at the end—a dead end—of a promenade through the 1980s Chris Offili (of ’90s culture war infamy) have led the way to and it’s also the only place one can get away with the transgression of touch Left alone in the gallery while our party seeked out something more beautiful at the Creativity Lab material experience and the fact of having it in these anodyne confines a New Yorker or a visitor to the city eager to encounter Serra at Tilted Arc scale has had to travel an hour and a half north to Dia Beacon To roll the first pieces he called Torqued Ellipses in which ellipses at the base and top are offset to extrude a form never before produced Serra describes the impossible search for a fabricator settling on a shipyard equipped with giant rollers that made World War II battleships: industrial heroism and advanced geometry combined like a Boeing 747 or the George Washington Bridge Dia labels its four as having been made of “weatherproof steel,” though the material is more commonly known as Cor-ten has self-rusting alloys that provide long-term low-maintenance protection from the elements Its original applications were practical and industrial the material has developed an association with modern monumentality and new uses as architectural decoration Cor-ten embellishes the exterior of Brooklyn condo balconies too narrow for any practical use and figures in memorials for the victims of the Coventry Blitz and to Harriet Tubman Though the predominant mental image is of terracotta sandpaper the weathered surface varies from tetanus vector to petrified elephant skin The Torqued Ellipses feel like a visit to an old friend the one whose confrontational works finally found their adorational art public The author of the New York Times appreciation upon Serra’s death referred to the Dia Beacon as a second date spot but I’ve always considered it a place to stroll with visiting family members with Serra’s spirals as our ultimate destination The building where the Torqued Ellipses are parked was made for Serra the sole occupant of the former train shed of the (Nabisco) box-printing factory that closed in 1990 and became Dia Beacon in 2003 described to me how they poured a new concrete floor raised to a level carefully calibrated with Serra to complement the ellipses’ combined masses rather than strangely dark and smooth icebergs floating in a side-lit sea The sculptures arrived by flatbed truck and were loaded into the hall through an entirely removed corrugated metal wall on the shed’s south end and joined together using gantries that lift the individual steel sections up like they would a shipping container and gently clap them together on the concrete truncated cone; shift your vantage point a few feet to the right But the point is to go inside—you don’t look at them in space but inhabit the space that they make an early 21st-century embodied museum experience During a recent visit a group of well-dressed Spanish women in their twenties took pictures inside Where so many museums drive in-person attendance through the opportunity to take selfies—pictures that would look identical if fabricated with Photoshop at home—stubbornly they will see when they review their posts Note the places where the base of the whole enormous volume lifts up off the floor feel the play of stability and instability You enter through a narrow slice in the dark steel like a Bruce Nauman corridor scrolling through the dark before coming to an opening and the center the experience has a frisson of the unmonitored distinctly antithetical to the museum experience I’ve always thought Dia Beacon would lend itself to an easter egg hunt Imagine a payoff at the center of the ellipse a rabbit wearing a pastel ribbon.) Upstairs is a big spider an indoors version of Louise Bourgeois’s overbearing Maman You could duck under her eight bronze legs but certainly not embrace them and it’s not clear if visitors are allowed on the other side of the prickly arachnid Dad or Grandpa (though Serra was neither) is a good time while Mom is slightly forbidding and uncomfortable More spirals and ellipses torque in a long gallery at the center of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao encircling a hundred-foot-long cor-ten Snake commissioned for the museum’s inauguration; the eight-sculpture assemblage is collectively entitled A Matter of Time If the space was not exactly designed to display these works (its architect spoke with a touch of pique in an interview of a Serra takeover) the ur–turn of the millennium building is ultimately inseparable from the artist’s work within Andrea Fraser recorded an unofficial tour of the museum Filmed by five cameras as she heeds the audio guide prompts to admire the building’s “powerfully sensual” surfaces the artist performs a frottage of the limestone walls with Serra’s Snake lurking in the background In the 2010 film essay The Forgotten Space the son of an aerospace engineer whose experience of unemployment featured in his early work) followed cor-ten containers and the laborers who move them from Rotterdam In the chapter labeled “Rust,” Sekula and his codirector Noël Burch alight upon Gehry’s titanium Guggenheim from a soon-to-be-relocated container terminal panning upon the ultimate manifestation of the spatial fix the union of capital relocation and cultural imperialism a lighthouse that only shines when the sun is out.” Inside the museum atrium The Forgotten Space attends to the installation of Serra’s Matter of Time with its steel forms designed with computer technology from Gehry’s office The camera not-too-generously peers down on the succession of bald heads and even Hawaiian shirts filing through the elliptical spirals in the ArcelorMittal gallery as they follow the dictates of their handsets mediated late-capitalist economy is helpfully complicated by Sekula’s own voiceover description of how maritime activity continues to animate the port that has been expanded just a bit further outside Bilbao’s center: behind all our narratives of deindustrialization hides one of industrial relocation a softer logistical district of egg and dairy distribution was still located a few blocks away Not long ago I took a bus tour of the Industrial Business Zones of North Brooklyn and Central Queens special regulatory carveouts to preserve manufacturing space in the city that lost most of it through the 1950s and a lot of what remained in the first decades of this millennium as rezonings made way for luxury housing left and right After an introduction on the importance of creating and preserving industrial jobs the organizers took us to see a Maspeth manufacturer specializing in ornamental steel (they did replacement window work for St but what they were really excited to show us was their heavy metal squash court) and an industrial business development success d’estime—a rapidly expanding new facility where they make custom shipping crates for the city’s galleries and museums Serra’s industrial products never found a happy home until they got their purpose-built postindustrial containers the Torqued Ellipses were first exhibited at Dia’s space in Chelsea and spheres debuted four years later around the corner at Gagosian Gallery renovated these workspaces to frame Serra’s outsize forms the concrete floors engineered to hold up their monumental tonnage people may not have lined up along the sidewalk to see Serras like he’s Yayoi Kusama or an inventive croissant but the Gagosian exhibitions were blockbuster events with extended runs it arrived with new twenty-foot tall galleries specifically in anticipation of a second Serra retrospective Serra lives on rent-free in neighborhoods shored up to maintain the place of the art industry and in the semblance of safe nominally noncommercial public space that pretty much only museums provide Engineered to make room for Serra’s sculptures climate-controlled to protect indefinitely against weathering a container ship called Dali left Baltimore harbor and plowed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge which rose to the northwest from Sparrows Point the shipyard where the first Torqued Ellipses were rolled and Amazon and Home Depot distribution sites now sprawl Six maintenance workers—immigrants from Mexico diverting traffic from the neither fast- nor slow-moving disaster The crew of the Dali was held in their ship in the harbor for three months as an investigation unfolded and bridge pieces were dismantled (By the time they were tugged to the port of Norfolk Other cities worried if their bridges might be vulnerable to similar Panamax wrecks though the Key Bridge was a rare case of transit infrastructure not yet past its prime it makes one reflect on what ages gracefully And what traces remain of the ones that are already gone the GSA trucked Tilted Arc away in three pieces in 1988 and replaced it with landscape architect Martha Schwartz’s user-friendly composition of circular green benches These were replaced in turn (because the garage underneath was leaking and with 2009 stimulus money) by a landscape we’ll describe as “classy.” Michael Van Valkenburgh and Associates pruned hedges into bulbous landforms and dotted the plaza with saucer magnolias that bloom ice pink in April and low marble cylinders approximating ottomans all encircled by bollards whose design is sensitive to another historical era entirely Javits Plaza is at the entrance of the federal building housing NYC’s immigration court and USCIS field office Tilted Arc served as backdrop to protests against the Reagan Administration which refused to grant asylum to the Guatemalans and Salvadorans who fled US-fomented violence there by the hundreds of thousands the updated barriers corralled the line of petitioners waiting to run their bags through x-rays and make their ICE check-in appointments and asylum hearings At the height of the most recent “crisis” of people seeking a more secure living environment hundreds of new arrivals waited outside through the night and queued up in the morning for appointments for work permits and mandatory registration There is an ICE check-in line and a separate line for the court a spatial confusion leading to bureaucratic fatality—one asylum seeker on the wrong line reportedly missed her hearing and was slated for deportation The entirety of the plaza is closed off by both metal police barriers and airport-style crowd control ribbons and occupied principally by a large security tent These circumscribe free circulation far more than Tilted Arc’s slice through the original plaza ever could If Serra couldn’t make a permanent point of the hostility of the plaza time and ICE continue to do the work for him For this last statistic and more Serriana, I owe a debt to Julian Rose and particularly his 2019 essay “The Weight of History” in Richard Serra: Forged Rounds, Reverse Curve. ↩ The aesthetic judgement comes from Harriett F. Senie’s Tilted Arc Controversy, in which she also ascribes great significance to Serra’s semi-repressed Jewish heritage. ↩ Taylor places “the heyday of the jingle” in the late 1940s the period that gave us classics like the Chiquita Banana jingle n+1 is a print and digital magazine of literature We also post new online-only work several times each week and publish books expanding on the interests of the magazine Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy A .boston.gov website belongs to an official government organization in the City of Boston As the Galleries and Exhibitions Manager Mariana Rey (she/her) curates and coordinates thought-provoking art exhibitions in the City Hall Galleries fostering inclusive spaces and understanding the power of art to drive social change she is eager to create opportunities for underrepresented voices and nurture Boston’s local art scene by displaying a variety of mediums and perspectives that reflect the diversity present in our city she was the Assistant Director at Abigail Ogilvy Gallery where she oversaw the general gallery operations and led strategic initiatives to enhance the gallery's mission through innovative programming and bilingual resources Mariana holds a BFA in Visual Arts from the Pontifical Javeriana University she is an Illustrator and Visual Artist with interests in film and printmaking Print Madrid’s Prado Museum has loaned a monumental 1653 Diego Velázquez painting to the Norton Simon Museum.At 14 then 44.The theatrical portrait has been shown in the United States only once before had seriously wobbled in the 1640s — and so had the king’s family life When the bloody Thirty Years’ War that upended European states and alliances finally came to a brutal end the Dutch Republic had escaped Madrid’s control while rival France had bested its neighbor across the Pyrenees Philip’s only son and likely heir to all the king’s dominions Philip’s shrewd and beloved wife of nearly 30 years monumental full-length portrait painted by the Spanish genius Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez loaned by Madrid’s Prado Museum to Pasadena’s Norton Simon Museum seen only once before in the United States in the artist’s landmark 1989 retrospective in New York is part of a new exchange partnership between the two museums documentary filmmaker Ken Burns chose Renaissance polymath Leonardo da Vinci The program began in March with the loan to Madrid of the Simon’s signature “Still Life with Lemons Oranges and a Rose” by Francisco de Zurbarán and Simon chief curator Emily Talbot and associate curator Maggie Bell have installed it as one among nine works from the museum’s collection — by Jose de Ribera Nicolas Poussin and others — to provide some context for the Velázquez Art collecting was an important activity at the Habsburg court privilege and complexities of international relationships The commission for a formal portrait of Mariana of Austria daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor and Spain’s new queen consort The union between husband and wife was meant to cement the Spanish and Austrian wings of the sprawling Habsburg Dynasty a promotional sign of renewed strength after many years of turmoil Some complicated urgency framed these events Archduchess Mariana had been promised to Baltasar Carlos — her teenage first cousin her father wrote Philip a condolence letter suggesting that he recently widowed by the passing of Isabella theatricality is an appropriate key to the Velázquez portrait A luxurious red curtain is raised at the top as if Mariana is being publicly unveiled upon a royal stage for our astonished inspection with one hand grasping the back of an elaborate carved and upholstered chair at the left while a tabletop clock at the rear on the opposite side ticks away The chair indicates “throne,” the austere clock adds a symbolic note of sober timeliness as well as intimating life’s inevitable transience Some air is breathed into the composition’s shallow space by these two simple elements Velázquez drew a straight visual line across the canvas between the throne and the clock Following left to right it runs directly through the figure of the young queen positioning Mariana as the royal hinge connecting past Her black velvet dress trimmed in elaborate silver is an eye-grabber A cascade of lace in loose white oil paint falls from Mariana’s left hand in Diego Velázquez’ portrait of young queen Mariana (Christopher Knight/Los Angeles Times) The dress is enormous outrageously wide scaffolding of rigid undergarments called a guardainfante where unmarried women and prostitutes used it to conceal pregnancies Mariana’s guardainfante skirt is so big that not only does it span the picture’s width but it also required that Velázquez add a strip of canvas down the left side to accommodate the expanse (Look at the painting from an angle in raking light is also evident across the curtain at the top.) Likewise unseen are her silk and silver-trimmed chapines — high cork-soled platform shoes that lift up the petite monarch to lend stature Mariana does look a bit like a piece of furniture — a human sofa elaborately decorated wig that matches the bell shaped skirt The oversize volume symbolizes her commodious royal position in society Entertainment & Arts Judithe Hernández and Olafur Eliasson lead our art critic’s list of standout art in 2024 The garment’s austere black and silver palette projects a demure yet powerful mix of luxury and restraint Her ensemble is accented with abundant gold jewelry and a variety of red splashes in wrist- and hair-bows brightly rouged cheeks and a feathered headdress Velázquez’s vigorous brushwork is itself a demonstrable performance designed to seduce and entertain the viewer he opted for suggestively rendering the image in quick he invites the observer’s engaged eye to collaborate in assembling the scene’s visual construction The painterly technique would inform later generations of artists like Édouard Manet dull “black hole” gobbling up half the painting but Velázquez magically transformed it into tactile velvet with several soft squiggly yet relaxed marks of light gray paint Row upon row of elaborate trimmings are composed of interlocking streams of fluid silver their chain-like pattern more visually felt than precisely illustrated a large cascade of lace in watery white oil paint falls from Mariana’s left hand gently pressed against her velvet dress rather than tightly grasped angled handkerchief is a subtle formal echo of the drapery opening diagonally above Mariana’s head It could almost fill that space like a puzzle piece Velázquez organized the composition as a centralized cross — vertical queen overlapped by an “X” of decorative textile motifs Is it just coincidence that all these lines intersect over Mariana’s womb since the young girl’s primary role at Madrid’s court was to provide a Habsburg heir to the Spanish throne Perhaps that would help explain Aguado’s surprising revival of a pregnancy-themed dress for her official image An X-ray of Velazquez’ portrait shows Queen Mariana’s face superimposed over an earlier portrait of King Philip IV (Yale University Press) One of the more remarkable features of Velázquez’s stunning pictorial achievement is that he chose to paint Mariana’s portrait over one of many he had already executed of her husband (The reuse of a narrower existing canvas is why he needed to add a strip to accommodate the queen’s voluminous dress.) An X-ray of the under-painting published by the late Velázquez scholar Jonathan Brown shows that Mariana’s face was painted directly on top of Philip’s The House of Habsburg was highly inbred — estimates are that over 80% of marriages within the Spanish branch of the dynasty were between close blood relatives — and both the king and his child bride protruding lower lip and so-called “Habsburg jaw.” (Their eventual son suffered pronounced physical deformities and mental disabilities and died at just 38.) A few deft changes to Philip’s face made him into Mariana — painting as plastic surgery Whether he was taking a shortcut or making a point is hard to decide With just a small handful of Velázquez paintings in American museums the temporary visit of this knockout example by one of history’s premier painters is an opportunity not to miss Where: Norton Simon Museum, 411 W. Colorado Blvd., PasadenaWhen: Thursday-Monday, through March 24Admission: $15-$20; youths 18 and younger are freeInformation: (626) 449-6840,www.nortonsimon.org World & Nation Hollywood Inc. Television Subscribe for unlimited accessSite Map is preparing to make her professional debut this April Her path to this milestone has been marked by unwavering commitment and resilience and this is just something that I want for myself so I'll make sure that I'll do everything possible to achieve it," she said Mariana's passion for golf was ignited by her father and grandfather "I started playing golf because of my dad and my grandpa and they kind of just brought me along with them I tried some kids' clinics and made some friends and kind of just started there and just fell in love with the sport," she said Her talent and dedication earned her a scholarship to play for Portland State University Mariana demonstrated consistent improvement culminating in a senior year scoring average of 76.19 a 1.64-stroke improvement over her junior season providing leadership and support to her teammates Mariana chose to remain in Portland to continue honing her skills We have great golf courses around the area and I'm just fortunate to be able to practice at one of the top facilities in Portland," she said Transitioning to professional golf presents financial challenges particularly regarding travel and tournament expenses "The purpose of me hosting a fundraiser is pretty much to boost my financing and just be able to travel to events and pay for rentals and entry fees and all of the little things that add up," she said Mariana works full-time at the Tualatin Country Club often dedicating her personal time to practice "This sport breaks you down and also cheers you back up so I'm going to have doubts all the time but I also know that this is something that I want and regardless of the doubts that may creep in and I have some people in my corner to remind me of that," she said As Mariana steps into the professional realm, her journey exemplifies the power of perseverance and passion in achieving one's dreams. If you would like to follow and support Garcia's journey, you can follow her Instagram page here The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has banned Para powerlifting athlete Mariana Shevchuk of Ukraine for a period of four years for committing an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) The sanction was determined following a hearing of the Independent Anti-Doping Tribunal (the Independent Tribunal) which has jurisdiction to hear and determine alleged ADRVs under the IPC’s Anti-Doping Code (the Code) The Ukrainian athlete returned an adverse analytical finding (AAF) for a prohibited substance in a urine sample provided in-competition on 22 June 2024 during the women's up to 55 kg event at the Tbilisi 2024 Para Powerlifting World Cup The substance is included on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) 2024 Prohibited List under the class S4.4 Hormone and Metabolic Modulators It is a non-specified substance for the purposes of the Code The athlete was provisionally suspended by the IPC on 30 July 2024 pending a resolution of her case The athlete contested the consequences proposed by the IPC and requested a hearing of the Independent Tribunal be held the Independent Tribunal upheld the ADRV charges brought against the athlete by the IPC and imposed the consequences requested by the IPC in full the athlete will be ineligible for competition and other sporting activities (other than authorised anti-doping education or rehabilitation programmes) for four years from 30 July 2024 until 29 July 2028 The results obtained by the athlete in the women's up to 55 kg competition at the Tbilisi 2024 Para Powerlifting World Cup are disqualified All other results obtained by the athlete from the date the sample was collected until the commencement of the provisional suspension are also disqualified The ADRV was the second ADRV committed by the athlete in her career The athlete was previously found to have committed an ADRV (also relating to the presence and use of Meldonium) pursuant to a decision of the IPC Anti-Doping Committee Tribunal in 2016 the hearing panel in that previous case determined that the athlete bore no fault or negligence for the previous ADRV this second ADRV was not considered a ‘multiple violation’ for the purposes of the Code warranting a longer period of ineligibility than four years Each athlete is strictly liable for the substances found in their sample An ADRV occurs whenever a prohibited substance (or its metabolites or markers) is found in their bodily sample whether or not the athlete intentionally or unintentionally used a prohibited substance or was negligent or otherwise at fault As a signatory of the World Anti-Doping Code (the WADC) the IPC remains committed to a doping-free sporting environment at all levels The IPC has established the IPC Anti-Doping Code in compliance with the general principles of the WADC including the WADC International Standards it will lead the fight against doping in sport for athletes with an impairment This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Debunking the sorority myth International law: All talk, no action Underwater surveys picked up mysterious “bio-twang” sounds from the Mariana Trench in 2014. A new study reveals where the sci-fi-esque noises are coming from The Mariana Trench lies in the Pacific Ocean it is the deepest ocean trench on the planet The alien-like noises were first detected during an acoustic survey in 2014 The sounds last between 2.5 and 3.5 seconds and can be split into two distinct parts the second a series of high-pitched metallic pings “I think it sounds like the original ‘ping’ on the Starship Enterprise from Star Trek,” study co-author Lauren Harrell told Popular Science It took two years before someone suggested that the noises might be the calls of a large baleen whale The low-frequency moaning part is typical of baleen whales and it’s that kind of twangy sound that makes it unique We don’t find many new baleen whale calls,” marine bioacoustician It was not a whale call researchers had heard before the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reopened the case It turns out that researchers in 2016 were close Researchers spotted 10 Bryde’s whales swimming near the Mariana Islands Nine of the ten were recorded making the distinctive bio-twang noise it’s definitely a Bryde’s whale,” lead author Ann Allen told Scientific American researchers wanted to make doubly sure they were correct Using a new AI identification system the team trawled through 200,000 hours of ocean recordings from monitoring stations in the Mariana Archipelago The AI tool sped through the recordings and turned them into images known as spectrograms A machine learning algorithm could then differentiate between the various noises and pinpoint those that matched the bio-twang The study proved that these noises come from the Bryde’s whales The noises are only heard in the northwest Pacific showing that it is a particular population of whales “It’s possible that they use the bio-twang as a contact call a sort of ‘Marco Polo’ of the ocean But we need more information before we can say for sure,” Allen told Popular Science Rebecca McPhee is a freelance writer for ExplorersWeb Rebecca has been writing about open water sports Rebecca worked as an Editorial Assistant at Taylor and Francis Based in the UK Rebecca is a science teacher and volunteers for a number of marine charities Sign up to receive ExplorersWeb content direct to your inbox once a week By Richard Pietras | 1.8.25 | BC Brief Chemistry professor’s research will help expand knowledge of evolution and environmental adaptation Mariana Torrente associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry was awarded a three-year $700,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) Research in Undergraduate Institutions in 2024 to support the study of the elucidating epigenetic mechanisms for prion function in yeast Prions are proteins that can adopt self-replicating conformations prions are disease-causing agents; in baker’s yeast prions can help the organism adapt to challenging environmental conditions While the mechanisms by which prions help yeast adapt are not fully understood Torrente has helped to discover a connection between gene organization and prions in baker’s yeast “We will investigate how prions engage gene organization mechanisms and impact cellular functions,” Torrente said “This can lead to new knowledge in the fields of evolution and environmental adaptation among others.” Torrente plans to engage incoming transfer students with this project in an effort to hone their research skills and help them grow through degree completion She was also the recipient of a three-year $471,000 National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant in 2022 to help research related to gene organization disruption in the neurodegenerative disease frontotemporal dementia progressive brain disorder that causes changes in behavior chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry said of Torrente’s work: “Having both an active NIH and NSF is truly remarkable and represents an achievement only a very select few in the college have made.” in chemistry in 2010 from Princeton University where she comprehensively cataloged chromatin proteins—particularly histones—during biologically significant processes using high-end mass spectrometry proteomics she was an NIH postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania she won an NIH NINDS Advanced Postdoctoral Career Transition Award to Promote Diversity in Neuroscience Research (K22) and established her own research program as an assistant professor in the Chemistry Department at Brooklyn College Thanks for visiting The use of software that blocks ads hinders our ability to serve you the content you came here to enjoy We ask that you consider turning off your ad blocker so we can deliver you the best experience possible while you are here The Dodgers player and his wife Mariana Vicente Hernández have been married since 2018 Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times via Getty ; Mariana Vicente/ Instagram Mariana Martinez | What is so hot about drinking, anyway? Mariana Martinez | Dear (Class of 2028) Quakers: Networking is overrated Kuala Lumpur: The Northern Mariana Islands Football Association (NMIFA)’s perseverance in developing the beautiful game has been recognised with the renewal of their Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Grassroots Charter Bronze Membership www.the-afc.com/en/more/photo/3086621 www.the-afc.com/en/more/photo/northern-mariana-islands-fa-afc-grassroots-charter-bronze-member Vientiane: The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has welcomed the Lao Football Federation (LFF) as the newest Member Association to be recognised at the Silver level of its acclaimed AFC Grassroots Charter Kuala Lumpur: The Asian Football Confederation (AFC)’s commitment to expanding the reach of the beautiful game to as many people as possible was reaffirmed when the AFC Grassroots Panel met virtually on Tuesday Macau: The Macau Football Association (AFM)’s commitment to grow a lifelong passion for the beautiful game was further underlined today after the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) extended its AFC Grassroots Charter Bronze Membership Kuala Lumpur: The Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) became the 10th AFC Member Association (MA) to be awarded a Gold-level membership under the AFC Grassroots Charter in recognition of its outstanding commitment to grassroots football development Kuala Lumpur: The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) reiterated its determination to confirm football as the Continent’s most popular sport at the AFC Grassroots Panel meeting 2024 which concluded earlier today in Kuala Lumpur 4Culture🚀2,000-year-old rice recipe brought back to stunning life by Chinese studentsMaria Mocerino19 hours ago 9Culture🚀$340,000 hidden treasure, 598 gold coins discovered in Czech while leisure hikingMaria Mocerinoa day ago 1Military🌟‘Reppu’: Japan to bring back failed WWII warbird as sixth-generation fighterKapil Kajal38 minutes ago 4Science🌟The future of bacon? Gene-edited pigs get US FDA approval for human consumptionMrigakshi Dixit4 hours ago 9Culture🌟2,000-year-old rice recipe brought back to stunning life by Chinese studentsMaria Mocerino19 hours ago Jijo Malayil and glides freely in the deep sea.Developed by a team at the Beihang University in China the robot operated at a depth of 10,600 meters in the Mariana Trench.Using the same actuator technology a soft gripper mounted on a submersible’s rigid arm successfully retrieved sea urchins and starfish from the South China Sea demonstrating its capability for deep-sea exploration and specimen collection.“This study offers design insights into creating next-generation miniature deep-sea actuators and robots paving the way for future exploration and interaction with deep-sea ecosystems,” said the team in the study abstract Deep-sea exploration devices are typically large and can harm fragile ecosystems lightweight robots for extreme underwater environments is challenging due to the need for components that withstand high pressures and low temperatures.To overcome this the group created a soft actuator that uses a snap-through action to shift between two stable states the actuator can store more elastic energy at greater pressures motions become stronger and faster at deeper depths The researchers built a robot with these actuators and shape memory alloy springs to initiate the snap-through action.It has legs for crawling The robot can change its locomotion modes by moving its legs and retracting its gliding fins it can effectively traverse a variety of underwater terrains Researchers initially tested the robot in a laboratory aquarium before deploying it in the deep sea using a crewed submersible The robot demonstrated its ability to crawl successfully operating at the Haima Cold Seep at 1,384 meters and the Mariana Trench at 10,666 meters This adaptability showcases the robot’s potential for deep-sea exploration in challenging environments.The researchers used the same actuator technology to create a soft gripper in addition to the robot’s performance The gripper successfully retrieved live specimens from the South China Sea’s 3,400-meter-deep seafloor when it was fastened to a submersible’s rigid arm the gathered specimens—which included starfish and sea urchins—were securely kept in a container the gripper’s success demonstrates how this actuator technology may be used in underwater research and marine life 0COMMENTABOUT THE AUTHORJijo Malayil Jijo is an automotive and business journalist based in India Armed with a BA in History (Honors) from St and a PG diploma in Journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication By clicking sign up, you confirm that you accept this site's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Premium