text:
Plastic debris in the open ocean
Andrés Cózar, Fidel Echevarría, J. Ignacio González-Gordillo, Xabier Irigoien, Bárbara Úbeda, Santiago Hernández-León, Álvaro T. Palma, Sandra Navarro, Juan García-de-Lomas, Andrea Ruiz, María L. Fernández-de-Puelles, and Carlos M. Duarte
PNAS July 15, 2014 111 (28) 10239-10244; first published June 30, 2014 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1314705111
Andrés Cózar
aÁrea de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias del Mar y Ambientales, Universidad de Cádiz, Campus de Excelencia Internacional del Mar, E-11510 Puerto Real, Spain;
For correspondence: andres.cozar@uca.es
Fidel Echevarría
J. Ignacio González-Gordillo
Xabier Irigoien
bRed Sea Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955-6900, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia;cAZTI, Arrantza eta Elikaigintzarako Institutu Teknologikoa, 20110 Pasaia, Spain;
Bárbara Úbeda
Santiago Hernández-León
dInstituto de Oceanografía y Cambio Global, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Campus Universitario de Tafira, 35017 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain;
Álvaro T. Palma
eFisioaqua, Las Condes, 6513677 Santiago, Chile;
Sandra Navarro
fDepartamento de Ecología, Universidad de Barcelona, E-08028 Barcelona, Spain;
Juan García-de-Lomas
Andrea Ruiz
gPakea Bizkaia, 48990 Getxo, Spain;
María L. Fernández-de-Puelles
hInstituto Español de Oceanografía, Centro Oceanográfico de Baleares, 07015 Palma de Mallorca, Spain;
Carlos M. Duarte
iDepartment of Global Change Research, Instituto Mediterráneo de Estudios Avanzados (Universidad de las Islas Baleares-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas), 07190 Esporles, Spain;jThe University of Western Australia Oceans Institute andkSchool of Plant Biology, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia; andlFaculty of Marine Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Edited by David M. Karl, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, and approved June 6, 2014 (received for review August 3, 2013)
Figures & SI
High concentrations of floating plastic debris have been reported in remote areas of the ocean, increasing concern about the accumulation of plastic litter on the ocean surface. Since the introduction of plastic materials in the 1950s, the global production of plastic has increased rapidly and will continue in the coming decades. However, the abundance and the distribution of plastic debris in the open ocean are still unknown, despite evidence of affects on organisms ranging from small invertebrates to whales. In this work, we synthetize data collected across the world to provide a global map and a first-order approximation of the magnitude of the plastic pollution in surface waters of the open ocean.
There is a rising concern regarding the accumulation of floating plastic debris in the open ocean. However, the magnitude and the fate of this pollution are still open questions. Using data from the Malaspina 2010 circumnavigation, regional surveys, and previously published reports, we show a worldwide distribution of plastic on the surface of the open ocean, mostly accumulating in the convergence zones of each of the five subtropical gyres with comparable density. However, the global load of plastic on the open ocean surface was estimated to be on the order of tens of thousands of tons, far less than expected. Our observations of the size distribution of floating plastic debris point at important size-selective sinks removing millimeter-sized fragments of floating plastic on a large scale. This sink may involve a combination of fast nano-fragmentation of the microplastic into particles of microns or smaller, their transference to the ocean interior by food webs and ballasting processes, and processes yet to be discovered. Resolving the fate of the missing plastic debris is of fundamental importance to determine the nature and significance of the impacts of plastic pollution in the ocean.
The current period of human history has been referred as the Plastic Age (1). The light weight and durability of plastic materials make them suitable for a very wide range of products. However, the intense consumption and rapid disposal of plastic products is leading to a visible accumulation of plastic debris (2). Plastic pollution reaches the most remote areas of the planet, including the surface waters of the open ocean. Indeed, high concentrations of floating plastic debris have been reported in central areas of the North Atlantic (3) and Pacific Oceans (4, 5), but oceanic circulation models suggest possible accumulation regions in all five subtropical ocean gyres (6, 7). The models predict that these large-scale vortices act as conveyor belts, collecting the floating plastic debris released from the continents and accumulating it into central convergence zones.
Plastic pollution found on the ocean surface is dominated by particles smaller than 1 cm in diameter (8), commonly referred to as microplastics. Exposure of plastic objects on the surface waters to solar radiation results in their photodegradation, embrittlement, and fragmentation by wave action (9). However, plastic fragments are considered to be quite stable and highly durable, potentially lasting hundreds to thousands of years (2). Persistent nano-scale particles may be generated during the weathering of plastic debris, although their abundance has not been quantified in ocean waters (9).
As the size of the plastic fragments declines, they can be ingested by a wider range of organisms. Plastic ingestion has been documented from small fish to large mammals (10⇓–12). The most evident effects of plastic ingestion are mechanical [e.g., gastrointestinal obstruction in seabirds (13)], but plastic fragments contain contaminants added during plastic manufacture or acquired from seawater through sorption processes [e.g., hydrophobic chemicals (14, 15)]. Recent studies provide evidence that these contaminants can accumulate in the receiving organisms during digestion (14).
Our awareness of the significance of plastic pollution in the ocean is relatively recent, and basic questions remain unresolved. Indeed, the quantity of plastic floating in the ocean and its final destination are still unknown (16). Historical time series of surface plastic concentration in fixed ocean regions show no significant increasing trend since the 1980s, despite an increase in production and disposal (3, 16, 17). These studies suggest that surface waters are not the final destination for buoyant plastic debris in the ocean. Nano-fragmentation, predation, biofouling, or shore deposition have been proposed as possible mechanisms of removal from the surface (3, 9, 16).
On the basis of samples collected on a circumnavigation cruise (Malaspina 2010 expedition), on five regional cruises, and available data from recent studies (3⇓–5, 17⇓–19), we aim to provide a first-order approximation of the load of plastic debris in surface waters of the open ocean. We also examine the size distribution of floating plastic debris collected along the circumnavigation to provide insight into the nature of possible losses of floating plastic from the open ocean surface.
The dataset assembled here included 3,070 total samples collected around the world (SI Appendix, Table S1). The frequency of occurrence of plastic debris in the surface samples of the open ocean was considerably high (88%; Fig. 1). Nevertheless, the concentration of plastic ranged broadly, spanning over four orders of magnitude across the open ocean. The distribution pattern agreed with those predicted from ocean surface circulation models (6, 7), confirming the accumulation of plastic debris in the convergence zone of each of the five large subtropical gyres. Using the high and low ranges of spatial concentrations measured within 15 major convergence/divergence zones in the global ocean (Fig. 2), we estimate the amount of plastic in the open-ocean surface between 7,000 and 35,000 tons (Table 1). The plastic concentrations per surface area were comparable across each of the five accumulation zones, although the North Pacific Ocean contributed importantly to the global plastic load (between 33 and 35%), mainly owing to the size of this gyre. The plastic load in the North Pacific Ocean could be related to the high human population on the eastern coast of the Asian continent, the most densely populated coast in the world, with one-third of the global coastal population (20). Indeed, the surface plastic concentrations measured in the Kuroshio Current, the western arm of the North Pacific Gyre, can become exceptionally high, including the highest reported for nonaccumulation regions (21, 22).
Concentrations of plastic debris in surface waters of the global ocean. Colored circles indicate mass concentrations (legend on top right). The map shows average concentrations in 442 sites (1,127 surface net tows). Gray areas indicate the accumulation zones predicted by a global surface circulation model (6). Dark and light gray represent inner and outer accumulation zones, respectively; white areas are predicted as nonaccumulation zones. Data sources are described in SI Appendix, Table S1. Plastic concentrations along the Malaspina circumnavigation and a latitudinal gradient are graphed in SI Appendix, Figs. S4 and S5.
Ranges of surface plastic concentrations by ocean. Nonaccumulation zone (blue boxes), outer accumulation zone (green boxes), and inner accumulation zone (red boxes). The boundaries of the boxes indicate the 25th and 75th percentiles, the black lines within the box mark the mean, and the whiskers above and below the boxes indicate the 90th and 10th percentiles. Data used in this graph are mapped in Fig. 1. An equivalent analysis for a dataset of plastic concentrations not corrected by wind effects is graphed in SI Appendix, Fig. S3.
Range of the global load of plastic debris in surface waters of the open ocean
Continental plastic litter enters the ocean largely through storm-water runoff, flowing into watercourses or directly discharged into coastal waters. Estimating the plastic input to the ocean is a complex task. In the 1970s, the US National Academy of Sciences estimated that the flux of plastic to the world oceans was 45,000 tons per year (23), equivalent to 0.1% of the global production of plastic (24). Since then, the annual production of plastic has quintupled (265 million tons per year in 2010). Around 50% of the produced plastic is buoyant (24), and 60–64% of the terrestrial load of floating plastic to the sea is estimated to be exported from coastal to open-ocean waters (7). Despite the possible inaccuracies of these numbers, a conservative first-order estimate of the floating plastic released into the open ocean from the 1970s (106 tons) is 100-fold larger than our estimate of the current load of plastic stored in the ocean.
Examination of the size distribution of plastic debris on the ocean surface shows a peak in abundance of fragments around 2 mm and a pronounced gap below 1 mm (Fig. 3A). Similar patterns are found when the data are analyzed separately by ocean basin (SI Appendix, Fig. S6). The predominance of fragments in an intermediate interval (1–5 mm) of the plastic size spectra is also a general feature for the oceanic size distributions reported in the past (5, 8). However, experiments on the fragmentation of plastic materials show that the size distribution of fragments generated by a plastic object conforms to a fractal process, spreading over several orders of magnitude and below the size range in our study (25, 26). Cracking patterns of photodegraded plastics are observed at multiple scales, from centimeters to few microns (9). Therefore, the progressive fragmentation of the plastic objects into more and smaller pieces should lead to a gradual increase of fragments toward small sizes. In steady state, the abundance–size distribution should follow a power law, with a scaling exponent equal to the spatial dimension of the plastic objects (i.e., 3, SI Appendix, Fig. S8). Likewise, a stable input and fragmentation of large plastic objects should result in a steady volume–size distribution. A model based on fragmentation, without additional losses, gave an abundance–size distribution similar to that sampled, which showed a power exponent of 2.93 ± 0.08, similar to the expected value, but only for size classes larger than 5 mm. Below 5 mm, the observed size distribution diverged from that expected from the model (Fig. 3 B and C). Because plastic input is progressively transferred toward small-size classes by fragmentation, this divergence results from the gradual accumulation of plastic losses. An assessment of progressive departures of the observed distribution from a conservative distribution indicates that losses are concentrated around sizes of 2.2 mm (Fig. 3C). Hence, the paucity of fragments in the lowest part of the size distribution would be explained by the interruption of the downward transfer of plastic at the millimeter scale, unless there is an abrupt nano-fragmentation of the millimeter-sized particles directly into pieces of few microns or smaller, allowing passage through the 200-µm mesh net used (SI Appendix, Fig. S9). A sampling bias causing the apparent loss in small sizes can be rejected because the size distribution of nonplastic particles in the same samples followed the characteristic power distribution, with increasing abundances toward smaller sizes (SI Appendix, Fig. S12).
Size distribution of floating plastic debris collected during the Malaspina circumnavigation at calm conditions. (A) Size distribution in abundance (light blue bars) and abundance normalized by the width (in millimeters) of the size class (blue circles). (B) Measured (blue circles) and modeled (red squares) size distributions of normalized abundance in logarithmic scale. Modeled distribution was strictly based on fragmentation of large plastic items. (C) Measured (blue circles) and modeled (red squares) size distributions in normalized volume. Green bars indicate the estimated losses of plastic volume by size class (∆i). After smoothing the measured distribution with a Weibull function (black line, R = 0.9979, P < 0.0001), losses by size were estimated from its progressive departure from the modeled distribution. Dashed vertical lines through all three graphs correspond to 1-mm and 5-mm size limits. Because plastic presence declined for sizes over 10 cm, modeling analysis was applied up to 10 cm. Note that the largest size class extends from 10 cm to 1 m, the length of the net mouth. Measured size distributions are built from the plastic collected in tows with u* <0.5 cm⋅s−1 (4,184 plastic items) to avoid wind-mixing effect. An analysis of the effect of wind mixing on plastic size distribution is shown in SI Appendix, Fig. S7, and size distributions for the whole Malaspina dataset (7,359 plastic items) are graphed in SI Appendix, Fig. S10.
Our study reports an important gap in the size distribution of floating plastic debris as well as a global surface load of plastic well below that expected from production and input rates. Together with the lack of observed increasing temporal trends in surface plastic concentration (3, 16, 17), these findings provide strong support to the hypothesis of substantial losses of plastic from the ocean surface. A central question arising from this conclusion is how floating plastic is being removed. Four main possible sinks have been proposed: shore deposition, nano-fragmentation, biofouling, and ingestion (3, 9). Although a rigorous attribution of losses to each of these mechanisms is not yet possible, our study provides some insights as to their plausibility. To counterbalance the increase in input rates over the past decades, the removal rate of the presumed sink would also have needed to increase (3). Alternatively, the lack of increasing trends in surface plastic pollution could also be explained from a removal rate much faster than the input into the ocean, with the reduced global load of surface plastic resulting from a delay between input and removal. Another requirement is that the sink must lead to a degradation or permanent sequestration of plastic. Finally, the size distribution of floating plastic debris is evidence for a size-selective loss process or processes.
A selective washing ashore of the millimeter-sized fragments trapped in central areas of the open ocean is unlikely. Likewise, there is no reason to assume that the rate of solar-induced fragmentation increased since the 1980s (3). However, the gap in the plastic size distribution below 1 mm could indicate a fast breaking down of the plastic fragments from millimeter scale to micrometer scale. Recent scanning electron micrographs of the surface of microplastic particles showed indications that oceanic bacterial populations may be contributing to their degradation, potentially intervening in the fragmentation dynamics (27). The scarce knowledge of the biological and physical processes driving the plastic fragmentation leaves room for the possibility of a two-phase fragmentation, with an accelerated breakdown of the photodegraded fragments with dimension of few millimeters.
A preferential submersion of small-sized plastic, with high surface:volume ratio, by ballasting owing to epiphytic growth could also be possible. Once biofouled fragments reach seawater density, they enter the water column as neutrally drifting or slowly sinking particles. Biofouled fragments probably are often incorporated into the sediment in shallow and, particularly, nutrient-rich areas (28), but this may be a less effective mechanism in the deep, open ocean (9, 29). Because the seawater density gradually increase with depth, the slowly sinking plastic, marginally exceeding the surface seawater density, should remain suspended at a depth where its density is equal to that of the medium. Field experiments have shown that biofouled plastic debris undergoes a rapid defouling when submerged, causing the plastic to return to the surface (29). Defouling in deep water could occur, for example, from adverse conditions for the epiphytic organisms (e.g., decreasing irradiance) or the dissolution of carbonates and opal owing to acidic conditions.
The fourth possible sink is ingestion by marine organisms. The size interval accumulating most of plastic losses corresponds to that of zooplankton (mainly copepods and euphausiids). Zooplanktivorous predators represent an abundant trophic guild in the ocean, and it is known that accidental ingestion of plastic occurs during their feeding activity. The reported incidence of plastic in stomachs of epipelagic zooplanktivorous fish ranges from 1 to 29% (30, 31), and in stomachs of small mesopelagic fish from 9 to 35% (10, 32). The most frequent plastic size ingested by fish in all these studies was between 0.5 and 5 mm, matching the predominant size of plastic debris where global losses occur in our assessment. Also, these plastic sizes are commonly found in predators of zooplanktivorous fish (30, 31, 33).
Although diverse zooplanktivorous predators must contribute to the plastic capture at millimeter scale, the small mesopelagic fish likely play a relevant role. They constitute the most abundant and ubiquitous zooplanktivorous assemblage in the open ocean, with densities close to one individual per square meter also in the oligotrophic subtropical gyres (34, 35). Mesopelagic fish live in the middle layer (200–1,000 m deep) of the ocean but migrate to feed in the surface layer at night. Using the plastic content in stomachs, the reported estimates of standing load of plastic in mesopelagic fish (32) are on the same order of magnitude as our estimates of free plastic on the surface. The turnover time of the plastic contained in mesopelagic fish must vary from 1 y to a single day, depending on whether ingested fragments remain in the fish throughout their complete lifespan or are defecated (32). The plastic fragments ingested by small fish can be transferred to larger predators (31, 33), sink with the bodies of dead fish, or be defecated. Gut content of mesopelagic fish is evacuated as long viscous feces that assume spheroid shapes while sinking at high velocities (around 1,000 m⋅d−1) (36). Hence, microplastic fragments could also reach the bottom via defecation, a proposition that requires further quantitative testing.
Surface losses of large plastic objects by sinking are unaccounted for in our fragmentation model (Fig. 3). However, these large objects, included those in the uppermost part of our plastic size spectrum, are commonly observed on the seafloor (37) and likely contribute significantly to reduce the global load at the surface. Large plastic objects undergo particular biofouling because they can host a wide size range of organisms and often show large cavities (e.g., bags, bottles) that facilitate their ballasting and subsequent sinking.
In the present study, we confirm the gathering of floating plastic debris, mainly microplastics, in all subtropical gyres. The current plastic load in surface waters of the open ocean was estimated in the order of tens of thousands of tons (10,000–40,000). This estimate could be greatly improved through joining sampling efforts particularly in semiclosed seas (e.g., Mediterranean) and the southern hemisphere, where existing data are scarce. Nevertheless, even our high estimate of plastic load, based on the 90th percentile of the regional concentrations, is considerably lower than expected, by orders of magnitude. Our observations also show that large loads of plastic fragments with sizes from microns to some millimeters are unaccounted for in the surface loads. The pathway and ultimate fate of the missing plastic are as yet unknown. We cannot rule out either of the proposed sink processes or the operation of sink processes yet to be identified. Indeed, the losses inferred from our assessment likely involve a combination of multiple sinks. Missing microplastic may derive from nano-fragmentation processes, rendering the very small pieces undetectable to convectional sampling nets, and/or may be transferred to the ocean interior. The abundance of nano-scale plastic particles has still not been quantified in the ocean (9), and the measurements of microplastic in deep ocean are very scarce, although available observations point to a significant abundance of microplastic particles in deep sediments (38), which invokes a mechanism for the vertical transport of plastic particles, such as biofouling or ingestion. Because plastic inputs into the ocean will probably continue, and even increase, resolving the ultimate pathways and fate of these debris is a matter of urgency.
From December 2010 to July 2011 the Spanish circumnavigation expedition Malaspina 2010 sampled surface plastic pollution at 141 sites across the oceans. Floating plastic was collected with a neuston net (1.0- × 0.5-m mouth, 200-μm mesh) towed at 2–3 knots for periods 10–15 min (total tows 225). Tow areas were calculated from the readings of a flowmeter in the mouth of the net. Wind speed and water surface density were measured during each tow to estimate average friction velocity in water (u*) (39).
The material collected by the net was mixed with 0.2-mm-filtered seawater. Subsequently, floating plastic debris was carefully picked out from the water surface with the aid of a dissecting microscope. This examination was repeated at least twice to ensure the detection of all of the smallest plastic particles. To confirm the plastic nature of the material collected in the examinations, Raman spectroscopy was applied to a random subset of particles (n = 67). The analysis confirmed the identity of all plastic particles, and polyethylene was found to be the most common polymer type. The vast majority of the plastic items consisted of fragments of larger objects, and industrial resin pellets represented only a small fraction (<2%) of all encountered items. Textile fibers were found only occasionally and were excluded from the analysis because they could be airborne contamination from clothing during the sampling or processing (31).
Plastics extracted from the seawater samples were washed with deionized water and dried at room temperature. The total dry weight of the plastics collected in each tow was recorded. The maximum linear length (l) of the plastic items was measured by high-resolution scanning (SI Appendix, Fig. S11) and the image processing Zooimage software (www.sciviews.org). Alternatively, excessively large plastic objects were measured with a ruler. Overall, 7,359 plastic items were measured and separated in 28 size classes to build a size distribution. Size limits of the bins followed a 0.1-log series of l. The width of the uppermost bin extended from 10 cm to the length of the net mouth (100 cm) to account for all sizes that could be collected by the net. The trapping efficiency of fine particles by the mesh was tested from the analysis of the size distribution of nonplastic particles in six tows evenly distributed along the circumnavigation (SI Appendix, Fig. S12). Once the plastic particles were picked out from the samples, the size distribution of nonplastic particles was measured by the same methods.
Wind stress can extend the vertical distribution of floating plastic debris into the surface mixing layer, resulting in underestimation of the plastic concentrations measured by the surface tows (0.25 m deep). Thus, the integrated plastic abundance from the surface to the base of the wind-mixed layer (generally <25 m) was estimated with a model dependent on u* and the numerical concentrations measured in the surface tows (39). Wind-corrected abundances were converted to mass concentrations using a correlation based on simultaneous measurements of total mass and abundance of plastic in 570 worldwide tows (SI Appendix, Fig. S13).
Size-Distribution Analysis.
A theoretical size distribution of plastic derived from fragmentation was modeled by assuming steady state (large-objects input = small-fragments output, below 0.2 mm). Given that the plastic abundance in a given size class depends on the fragmentation of larger plastic objects already present, we selected a size class with relatively large plastic (reference bin) and projected the plastic amount measured in this bin toward smaller and larger size classes (onward and backward in time). Therefore, the normalized abundance (divided by the width of the size-class interval) of the size class i derived from steady fragmentation was modeled asAif=Aref⋅α⋅lref3α⋅li3=Aref⋅lref3li3.
We used a standard shape for the plastic fragments having the three principal axes proportional to l. Thus, α⋅li3 accounts for the mean volume of the fragments of i, with α being a shape factor and li the nominal length for the class i, set at the bin midpoint. Aref is the normalized abundance measured in the reference bin (i = ref). The 20- to 25-mm class was selected as reference, although similar results were obtained by selecting other large-size classes.
The normalized volume in each size class derived from fragmentation was modeled as Vif=Aif⋅α⋅li3=Aref⋅α⋅lref3, being α = 0.1, a value corresponding to flat-shaped volume. Because the steady fragmentation of the large-plastic input results in an even volume–size distribution, deviations of the observed size distribution from a conservative distribution can be related to changes in the fragmentation dynamics, inputs of small plastics, or losses (SI Appendix, Fig. S9). Estimating volumes from observed abundances (Vi∗=Ai∗⋅α⋅li3), and after smoothing the resulting volume–size distribution to remove small irregularities, the deviations from a conservative distribution (∆i, expressed as percentage of total) were calculated asΔi=Vi−1∗−Vi∗∑i=1n|Vi−1∗−Vi∗|=(Ai−1∗⋅li−13)−(Ai∗⋅li3)∑i=1n|(Ai−1⋅li−13)−(Ai⋅li3)|,
where i = 1, 2, …, n, with n being the lowest size class (0.2–0.25 mm). The denominator accounts for the total deviations accumulated across the entire size range studied. Negative values of ∆i are related to net plastic losses and positive values to plastic accumulations. Note that ∆i is independent of the standard plastic shape (α value) used in the computations. Possible variations of α with size were unable to induce changes in the volume–size distribution enough to explain the gap found in small sizes, owing to the extreme scarceness of plastic below 1 mm and the geometrical constrain for α, getting the maximum at 0.52 (spherical shape). Observed plastic abundance in the lowest part of the size spectrum was four orders of magnitude lower than expected from fragmentation (Fig. 3).
The size-distribution analysis is a useful tool to constrain the possible dynamics of marine plastic pollution. Nevertheless, the mechanisms leading to the observed plastic size distributions still are not entirely understood and deserve further attention, resolving the size dependence of the sink/sources processes, as well as testing the framework proposed here (SI Appendix, Fig. S9) to identify additional processes.
Spatial Analysis.
To analyze the global distribution of floating plastic, data from the Malaspina circumnavigation were combined with additional regional surveys and recent (from 2006 to date) measurements reported by other researchers after data standardization (SI Appendix, Table S1). Concentrations of plastic per surface-water volume were converted to concentrations per surface area from the tow depth, determined according to net type and mouth dimensions (one-half mouth height for neuston nets, three-fourths mouth height for manta nets). Plastic concentrations measured with mesh sizes larger than 0.2 mm were multiplied by a correction factor derived from the plastic size distribution measured in the Malaspina circumnavigation. For 0.3-, 0.5-, and 1.0-mm mesh sizes, numerical underestimation was estimated at 0.4, 2.7, and 21.3%, and mass underestimation at 0.0, 0.4, and 5.0%, respectively. Data reported in numerical concentrations were converted to mass concentrations by using the global relationship found between total mass and abundance (SI Appendix, Fig. S13). For data reported without wind correction (3⇓–5, 18), we use satellite winds from the CCMP database (http://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov) to discard samples collected with winds speeds larger than 5 m⋅s−1 (u* ∼0.6 cm⋅s−1), the threshold above which the effects of wind stress can be significant (39).
The range of the global plastic load in the surface ocean was estimated from the concentration ranges measured over 15 major zones in relation to the degree of surface convergence and by using two different sets of measurements, a wind-corrected dataset and a noncorrected dataset. Using a global circulation model (6), nonaccumulation, outer accumulation, and inner accumulation zones were delimited in each ocean basin to reduce the inaccuracies derived from an uneven distribution of measurements. In addition, plastic measurements were spatially averaged over grid cells of 2° in both latitude and longitude to avoid overweight of areas with high sampling frequency. Overall, 442 grid cells (1,127 net tows) were included in the wind-corrected dataset (Fig. 1 and SI Appendix, Table S1). Midrange regional concentrations were calculated from the averaging of the wind-corrected plastic concentrations within each major zone. High-range regional concentrations were calculated from the 90th percentile. We used a wide confidence interval for the plastic load estimate to address variability and possible inaccuracies in the spatial concentrations of plastic. Low-range concentrations were calculated from the averaging of the direct measurements of surface concentrations, without wind correction or discards by high wind mixing (noncorrected dataset: 851 grid cells, 3,070 net tows; SI Appendix, Figs. S2 and S3). Global plastic loads in the open-ocean surface were estimated from high, mid, and low regional concentrations and surface areas.
We thank Pakea Bizkaia and the Chilean Navy, which contributed to the sample collection, and K. L. Law, M. C. Goldstein, M. J. Doyle, M. Eriksen, J. Reisser, and their collaborators for their available data. We also thank S. Loiselle and J. Ruiz for his useful suggestions in writing the paper. This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the Malaspina 2010 expedition project (Consolider-Ingenio 2010, CSD2008-00077) and the Migrants and Active Flux in the Atlantic Ocean project (CTM2012-39587-C04-01). Original data reported in this paper are freely available at http://metamalaspina.imedea.uib-csic.es/geonetwork. This is Campus de Excelencia Internacional del Mar (CEIMAR) Publication 58.
↵1To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: andres.cozar{at}uca.es.
Author contributions: A.C., F.E., J.I.G.-G., X.I., and C.M.D. designed research; A.C., F.E., J.I.G.-G., X.I., B.U., S.H.-L., A.T.P., S.N., J.G.-d.-L., A.R., M.L.F.-d.-P., and C.M.D. performed research; A.C., X.I., B.U., S.N., J.G.-d.-L., and M.L.F.-d.-P. contributed new reagents/analytic tools; A.C., J.I.G.-G., B.U., A.T.P., S.N., and J.G.-d.-L. analyzed data; and A.C., F.E., X.I., and C.M.D. wrote the paper.
This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.
This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1314705111/-/DCSupplemental.
Freely available online through the PNAS open access option.
Yarsley VE,
Couzens EG
(1945) Plastics (Penguin, London).
Barnes DKA,
Galgani F,
Thompson RC,
Barlaz M
(2009) Accumulation and fragmentation of plastic debris in global environments. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 364(1526):1985–1998.
Law KL,
(2010) Plastic accumulation in the North Atlantic subtropical gyre. Science 329(5996):1185–1188.
Goldstein MC,
Rosenberg M,
Cheng L
(2012) Increased oceanic microplastic debris enhances oviposition in an endemic pelagic insect. Biol Lett 8(5):817–820.
Eriksen M,
(2013) Plastic pollution in the South Pacific subtropical gyre. Mar Pollut Bull 68(1–2):71–76.
Maximenko N,
Hafner J,
Niiler P
(2012) Pathways of marine debris derived from trajectories of Lagrangian drifters. Mar Pollut Bull 65(1–3):51–62.
Lebreton LCM,
Greer SD,
Borrero JC
(2012) Numerical modelling of floating debris in the world's oceans. Mar Pollut Bull 64(3):653–661.
Hidalgo-Ruz V,
Gutow L,
Thiel M
(2012) Microplastics in the marine environment: A review of the methods used for identification and quantification. Environ Sci Technol 46(6):3060–3075.
Andrady AL
(2011) Microplastics in the marine environment. Mar Pollut Bull 62(8):1596–1605.
Boerger CM,
Lattin GL,
Moore SL,
Moore CJ
(2010) Plastic ingestion by planktivorous fishes in the North Pacific Central Gyre. Mar Pollut Bull 60(12):2275–2278.
Choy CA,
Drazen JC
(2013) Plastic for dinner? Observations of frequent debris ingestion by pelagic predatory fishes from the central North Pacific. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 485:155–163.
de Stephanis R,
Giménez J,
Carpinelli E,
Gutierrez-Exposito C,
Cañadas A
(2013) As main meal for sperm whales: Plastics debris. Mar Pollut Bull 69(1–2):206–214.
Azzarello MY,
Van-Vleet ES
(1987) Marine birds and plastic pollution. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 37:295–303.
Teuten EL,
(2009) Transport and release of chemicals from plastics to the environment and to wildlife. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 364(1526):2027–2045.
Hirai H,
(2011) Organic micropollutants in marine plastics debris from the open ocean and remote and urban beaches. Mar Pollut Bull 62(8):1683–1692.
(2004) Lost at sea: Where is all the plastic? Science 304(5672):838.
(2014) Distribution of surface plastic debris in the eastern pacific ocean from an 11-year data set. Environ Sci Technol 48(9):4732–4738.
Doyle MJ,
Watson W,
Bowlin NM,
Sheavly SB
(2011) Plastic particles in coastal pelagic ecosystems of the Northeast Pacific ocean. Mar Environ Res 71(1):41–52.
Reisser J,
(2013) Marine plastic pollution in waters around Australia: Characteristics, concentrations, and pathways. PLoS ONE 8(11):e80466.
Center for International Earth Science Information Network
(2012) National Aggregates of Geospatial Data: Population, Landscape and Climate Estimates Version 3 (National Aeronautics and Space Administration Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center, Palisades, NY). Available at http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/data/set/nagdc-population-landscape-climate-estimates-v3. Accessed October 16, 2012.
Day RH,
Shaw DG,
Ignell SE
(1990) The quantitative distribution and characteristics of neuston plastic in the North Pacific Ocean, 1985–88. Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Marine Debris, eds Shomura RS, Godfrey ML (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Honolulu), pp 247–266.
Yamashita R,
Tanimura A
(2007) Floating plastic in the Kuroshio Current area, western North Pacific Ocean. Mar Pollut Bull 54(4):485–488.
(1975) Assessing Potential Ocean Pollutants: A Report of the Study Panel on Assessing Potential Ocean Pollutants to the Ocean Affairs Board (National Research Council, Washington, DC).
Association of Plastic Manufacturers
(2011) Plastics – the Facts 2011: An analysis of European Plastic Production, Demand and Recovery for 2010 (Plastic Europe, Brussels).
Timár G,
Blömer J,
Kun F,
Herrmann HJ
(2010) New universality class for the fragmentation of plastic materials. Phys Rev Lett 104(9):095502.
Kishimura H,
Noguchi D,
Preechasupanya W,
Matsumoto H
(2013) Impact fragmentation of polyurethane and polypropylene cylinder. Physica A 392(22):5574–5580.
Zettler ER,
Mincer TJ,
Amaral-Zettler LA
(2013) Life in the "plastisphere": Microbial communities on plastic marine debris. Environ Sci Technol 47(13):7137–7146.
Vianello A,
(2013) Microplastic particles in sediments of Lagoon of Venice, Italy: First observations on occurrence, spatial patterns and identification. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 130:54–61.
Andrady AL,
Song Y
(1991) Fouling of floating plastic debris under Biscayne Bay exposure conditions. Mar Pollut Bull 22(12):117–122.
Lusher AL,
McHugh M,
Thompson RC
(2013) Occurrence of microplastics in the gastrointestinal tract of pelagic and demersal fish from the English Channel. Mar Pollut Bull 67(1–2):94–99.
Foekema EM,
(2013) Plastic in north sea fish. Environ Sci Technol 47(15):8818–8824.
Davison P,
Asch RG
(2011) Plastic ingestion by mesopelagic fishes in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 432:173–180.
Eriksson C,
Burton H
(2003) Origins and biological accumulation of small plastic particles in fur seals from Macquarie Island. Ambio 32(6):380–384.
Lam V,
Pauly D
(2005) Mapping the global biomass of mesopelagic fishes. Sea Around Us Proj Newsl 30:4.
Irigoien X,
(2014) Large mesopelagic fishes biomass and trophic efficiency in the open ocean. Nat Commun 5:3271.
Robison BH,
Bailey TG
(1981) Sinking rates and dissolution of midwater fish fecal matter. Mar Biol 65:135–142.
Pham CK,
(2014) Marine litter distribution and density in European seas, from the shelves to deep basins. PLoS ONE 9(4):e95839.
Van Cauwenberghe L,
Vanreusel A,
Mees J,
Janssen CR
(2013) Microplastic pollution in deep-sea sediments. Environ Pollut 182:495–499.
Kukulka T,
Proskurowski G,
Morét-Ferguson S,
Meyer DW,
Law KL
(2012) The effect of wind mixing on the vertical distribution of buoyant plastic debris. Geophys Res Lett 39(7):L07601.
You are going to email the following Plastic debris in the open ocean
Andrés Cózar, Fidel Echevarría, J. Ignacio González-Gordillo, Xabier Irigoien, Bárbara Úbeda, Santiago Hernández-León, Álvaro T. Palma, Sandra Navarro, Juan García-de-Lomas, Andrea Ruiz, María L. Fernández-de-Puelles, Carlos M. Duarte
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Jul 2014, 111 (28) 10239-10244; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1314705111
Article Classifications


text:
Columnists, Coronavirus, Exclusives, Featured, Gold Dome, Politics, Rob Natelson, Uncategorized
April 1, 2020 By Rob Natelson
When county health departments issued sweeping, and over-broad orders throwing people out of work and largely closing down the economy, Coloradans suddenly faced a question that hadn't occurred to them before: How did unelected bureaucrats get such power?
The question was presented most graphically in Douglas County, where the Tri-County Health Department imposed its will on that county in defiance of a majority of the elected county commissioners.
At the state level, the governor issued a directive purporting to authorize a lock-down order from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE). But as I pointed out here, the Department's order actually exceeds the scope of the governor's "authorization."
And of course, none of these agencies held public hearings before issuing its decrees.
Every sensible person recognizes the need for government action in the current pandemic. But elected officials ought to be the ones who make decisions this important and this sweeping—especially when those decisions are backed by the full weight of the criminal law. (Violation of a state health order is punishable by a $1000 fine and up to a year in jail. CRS 25-1-114.)
The fundamental problem is that state law simply delegates too much power to these agencies. Normally, we think of a public health order as a rather modest thing, such as requiring a restaurant to clean up its kitchen or a company to stop polluting a water supply. But state law authorizes unilateral health department actions that far exceed such modest levels.
State law grants county agencies power to close schools and limit gatherings. It authorizes them to "control the causes of epidemic or communicable diseases and conditions affecting public health" and to "establish, maintain, and enforce isolation and quarantine" and "to exercise physical control over property and over the persons of the people within the jurisdiction of the agency as the agency may find necessary for the protection of the public health." (CRS 25-1-506)
Those are truly massive powers. With a little creativity, county agencies can justify doing almost anything—as in fact, they just have.
The CDPHE has similarly sweeping authority: "To establish, maintain, and enforce isolation and quarantine, and, in pursuance thereof and for this purpose only, to exercise such physical control over property and the person of the people within this state as the department may find necessary for the protection of public health." (CRS 25-1.5-102). No wonder CDPHE felt empowered to exceed the governor's authorization!
No free people should concede to any unelected agencies the kind of power Colorado state law now grants its state and county health departments. In its next session, the legislature should consider the following reforms:
* If a health department believes that widespread, disruptive action is necessary to deal with a health problem, the department should make an appropriate recommendation to the relevant elected public officials. At the county level, the relevant officials are the county commissioners; at the state level, the governor.
* The elected officials should, on short notice, offer an opportunity for public suggestions or comment.
* If the elected official determines that action must be taken even more immediately, then that official may implement all or part of the department's recommendation for up to ten days, during which time there shall be an opportunity for public suggestions and comment.
* At the end of that period, the elected official may repeal, modify, or re-affirm the order.
* No department may issue an order exceeding the scope authorized by the relevant elected officials.
* Constitutional challenges to all or part of an order in which the plaintiff seeks injunctive relief shall receive expedited hearing in state courts, with the state or county defending the order.
Rob Natelson, a retired constitutional law professor and historian, is Senior Fellow in Constitutional Jurisprudence at the Independence Institute in Denver.
Restaurant rebellion spreads; critics say dining shutdown not supported by data
Tags: CDPHE, coronavirus, COVID-19, rob natelson, Tri-county Health

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Have we not done Ethiopian food? We have not done Ethiopian food! Let's go to Chercher (the DC location) on Presidents' Day.
I couldn't resist the stupid title pun but my best understanding is it's actually pronounced more like Jar-Jar (as in Binks). Though anyone with knowledge of Amharic is of course welcome to correct me.
This location does not take reservations so please plan to show up promptly on the day of and be prepared for a wait.
Location is near the Mt. Vernon Square-Convention Center metro on the Yellow and Green lines. Hope to see you there!
Aghhhh. If I wasn't taking Fizz back to the airport this day, I (we'd) be there in a heartbeat. I really want to go to a DC Meetup before I move out of the area, and damn it if I don't live for Ethiopian food. Boo. I hope you all have a blast, though! Super jealous!!
Aaargh. I also love Ethiopian, but I have class in Alexandria until 7 on Mondays.
Ooo I can probably make this one!
Oh this sounds AMAZING but I'll be out of town. Next time!
If I wasn't taking Fizz back to the airport this day, I (we'd) be there in a heartbeat.
Aw, sorry to hear the timing didn't work out for this one since it's always great to see out-of-town folks as well as DC MeFites! If you want to schedule a "Fizz is in town" meetup I bet there would be lots of interest!
I will eventually make one of these outings, hailing from Parts North (Baltimore is my closest large city) and I can take Greenbelt metro to most locales. alas, Ihave a friend test driving a bridge lesson on me (and 3 others) then. Weak 2-bids it is for me. Happy Valentine's Day, all!
Copronymus and I are planning to get there around 6:30 in case there's a wait. See you all soon!


text:
Q: Break data returned by SQL into more fields I have this output from SQL table:
array{
   "data" => "line1
line2
line3"
}

I am using something like this query: SELECT data FROM table WHERE ...;
Can I somehow make this sql query return:
array{
   "data1" => "line1",
   "data2" => "line2",
   "data3" => "line3",
}

A: The short answer is: No, better do it in PHP:
list($the_array['data1'], $the_array['data2'], $the_array['data3']) =
explode("\n", $the_array['data'], 3);

The longer (or shorter) answer is: See this question of mine and dig through the links.

A: I think the main problem here is the way you have stored the data in your database. You don't really want to be storing multiple pieces of data in one field. The data needs to be better normalised then you would not encounter this problem in the first place. Look into Database Normalisation.
But if you don't want to change your data structure you could using the explode function in php
$lineArray = explode("\n",$data);

But I would recommend looking more closely at the database structure you are using.

A: I don't know any SQL for that matter.
Alternative: break in PHP.
$arr= explode("\n", $result['data']); // \n or space or \r\n
$i = 0;
foreach($arr as $line){
$i++;
   $final[$i] = $line;
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


← Curiosity update: Go for drilling at Highfield!
THEMIS Image of the Day, November 9, 2018. This VIS image is located in Terra Sirenum. The bright linear feature at the bottom of the image is the crest of a ridge.
The multiple channel features toward the top of this image were created by liquid flow running down slope from the ridge.
This entry was posted in Reports and tagged Arizona State University, ASU, channels, fluvial channels, fluvial landforms, fluvial processes, Mars Odyssey, NASA, Terra Sirenum, THEMIS, THEMIS Image of the Day, Thermal Emission Imaging System. Bookmark the permalink.


text:
U.S. soldier killed 'in action' in Afghanistan
root	 Jul 13, 2019 0
July 13 (UPI) -- A U.S. soldier was killed "in action" Saturday in Afghanistan, the NATO-led security alliance said. The NATO-led Resolute Support said it would not release the name of the soldier or give further details until 24 hours…
Oil Is Driving the Iran Crisis
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo departs after a media event at the State Department on June 13. (AP Photo / Alex Brandon) EDITOR'S NOTE:&nbspThis article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To stay on…
Can Iran's Shrewd Diplomacy Avert War With Washington?
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, right, shakes hand with French presidential envoy Emmanuel Bonne, as they pose for photos in Tehran, July 10, 2019. (AP Photo / Ebrahim Noroozi) Thank…
Mike Pompeo's Faith-Based Attempt to Narrowly Redefine Human Rights
Much of the time, the Trump Administration looks like a flailing force, a machine of deregulation, defunding, and destruction. Once in a while, though, it actually creates something intentionally and efficiently. The packing of the…
The Department of Labor Is Making It Harder for Trafficking Victims to Get Protection
Advocates say recent shifts within the Department of Labor will add extra layers to the visa application process.(Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)Last month, when announcing the most recent Department of State annual report on…
The Unbelievable Hypocrisy of Trump's New "Unalienable Rights" Panel
On July 4th, President Trump held just one telephone call with a foreign leader—President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, of Egypt, a former field marshal who has orchestrated two military coups since 2011 and now ranks as the most autocratic…
SATCOM Experts: AsiaSat Sales Not Threat to National Security « Breaking Defense
AsiaSat 8, one of Hong Kong-based AsiaSat's fleet of seven operational communications satellites WASHINGTON: US commercial satellite sales to AsiaSat, and the company's leasing of communications bandwidth to China, are not threats to US…
Scott Morrison on Iran: we'll 'seriously' consider any US request to join military…
Scott Morrison says Australia has not yet been asked to take part in any military action in Iran but says any request from the Trump administration will be considered "seriously and on its merits". The US secretary of state, Mike…
Poll: 24 percent of voters want military action against Iran
As President TrumpDonald John TrumpConway defends herself against Hatch Act allegations amid threat of subpoena How to defuse Gulf tensions and avoid war with Iran Trump says 'stubborn child' Fed 'blew it' by not cutting rates MORE and…
Donald Trump: Iran strikes called off over concern for civilians' safety
June 21 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump said Friday he'd ordered attacks against three targets in Iran late Thursday, but called them off in the final minutes over concerns that 150 civilians would be killed. Trump approved the…


text:
Jacob Comello
Thought Crimes Lose Kevin Hart Oscar Job
For the Hollywood left, there is no forgiveness, let alone consistency. There is only a volatile mob mentality that, if dissented from, will get one's career destroyed.
Kevin Hart, an African American comedian who has appeared in Scary Movie 3, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, and other comedies, announced on Tuesday that he had been selected to host the 2019 Academy Awards, according to Huffington Post. Almost immediately, opposition to the Academy's decision came pouring in from left-leaning journalists, many of them LGBT types. The reason: people had discovered tweets the comedian made years ago which contained gay jokes.
I wonder when Kevin Hart is gonna start deleting all his old tweets pic.twitter.com/ZbYG6SI3Xm
— Benjamin Lee (@benfraserlee) December 5, 2018
Hart was later prompted by the Academy to apologize for the tweets or risk losing his role. The comedian refused to oblige the Academy in two Instagram posts made yesterday where he said: "I've addressed this several times … I've said where the rights and wrongs were … I'm not gonna tap back into the days of old when I've already moved on." He also encouraged his critics to "... take [their] negative energy and put it into something constructive." Huffington Post reported that actor Billy Eichner and David Mack of BuzzFeed News were among those unimpressed with Hart's response:
no apology no mention of the lgbt community, just imagine if this was about any other marginalised group pic.twitter.com/AtJ8I51tOR
— David Mack (@davidmackau) December 6, 2018
This is not good. A simple, authentic apology showing any bit of understanding or remorse would have been so simple. Like I tweeted a few weeks ago, Hollywood still has a real problem with gay men. On the surface it may not look like it. Underneath, it's far more complicated. https://t.co/A64LsOjVc2
— billy eichner (@billyeichner) December 7, 2018
As it turns out, Hart apologized on Twitter late last night and stepped down from the host position.
Mack's censure ("just imagine if this was any other marginalised group") is rather interesting, considering the fact that Travon Free, a writer for Samantha Bee's Full Frontal TBS show, faced a similar incident earlier this year when his old anti-Semitic tweets began to resurface. But for Free, there was hardly media hype at all: A few articles on smaller media sites covered it, and TBS never issued an official condemnation.
So Mack may have a point in saying the media treats some minorities worse than others, but LGBT people certainly aren't at the bottom of that totem pole.


text:
Q: Getting ResponseSerializationFailureReason Error in Alamofire API response in SwiftUI I am trying to fetch response using API but i am getting below error. Sometimes the API work and sometime it gave me this error. The API works fine in the Postman.
failure(Alamofire.AFError.responseSerializationFailed(reason: Alamofire.AFError.ResponseSerializationFailureReason.decodingFailed(error: Swift.DecodingError.dataCorrupted(Swift.DecodingError.Context(codingPath: [], debugDescription: "The given data was not valid JSON.", underlyingError: Optional(Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=3840 "Invalid value around line 1, column 0." UserInfo={NSDebugDescription=Invalid value around line 1, column 0., NSJSONSerializationErrorIndex=0}))))))

My Code:
class TemplateObserver: ObservableObject {
@Published var category = [Category]()

init(){
    fetchCategories()
}
func fetchCategories() {
    let request = AF.request(Constants.CATEGORIES, method: .get)
    request.responseDecodable(of: [Category].self) { response in
        print("Category Response: (response)")
        guard let result = response.value else { return }
        self.category = result
    }
  }
}

I am trying to create object in the app.Swift file:
@main
struct Logo_MakerApp: App {
    @ObservedObject var templateObserver = TemplateObserver()

    var body: some Scene {
    WindowGroup {
        ContentView(
            templateObserver: templateObserver
        )
    }
  }
}


text:
Europe is launching its new robotic arm that can crawl across the Worldwide House Station like a customs worm
By Mans Life Daily On Jul 27, 2021
The ISS's robotic arms are some of its most useful tools. The arms, designed by Canadian and Japanese space agencies, were instrumental in moving astronauts and directing modules to one side of the ISS. However, the Russian segment lacked its own robotic arm – until a new one developed by ESA came onto the market last week.
The European Robotic Arm (ERA) will arrive on the ISS on July 29th together with Nauka, the laboratory module to which it is attached outside. With the help of 5 expected spacewalks, the arm will soon be put into operation and begin its first tasks – getting the Naucasus airlock working so that it becomes an integral part of the station and installing a large radiator to cope with the increased pressure Station cooling load.
Scheme of the newly upgraded ISS – including the ERA and Nauka modules (bottom left).
Credit – ESA
Within the framework of these projects, ERA will demonstrate its capabilities. This includes acting like an inch worm and moving hand over hand around the Nauka module. In addition, it is the first arm that can be steered either inside or outside the station and this control enables astronauts and cosmonauts to move up to 8000 kg within 5 mm of a desired location.
In fact, this level of accuracy doesn't even need to be controlled manually – the ERA is autonomous and can be executed strictly according to written step-by-step instructions. Its seven degrees of freedom and a range of 9.7 meters also allow access outside of its home module. Made from carbon fiber and aluminum, it's also strong enough to withstand the wear and tear of space and hopefully the effects of debris hitting other arms.
If you want to see the newly upgraded ISS, UT has a video of it.
Such impressive specifications have taken a lot of effort – 14 years of development by 22 companies in seven European countries. But it's part of a bigger push to move the ISS into a more commercially friendly space, with additional research bays, improved data links, and external research platforms.
ESA's plan is to use the Columbus 2023 program to make the ISS relevant in its "middle of life" in order to carry out new types of experiments and tests on the station that would be impossible on the earth side. The ERA is certainly a step in that direction, and the upgrades it will enable should make the ISS an increasingly important research location.
ESA – European robotic arm is launched into space
ESA – ERA brochure
Space.com – Europe will shortly bring a new two-handed robotic arm to the International Space Station
Airbus – European robotic arm built by Airbus, ready for space
Launch of ERA on a Proton rocket on July 21, 2021.
Credit – Roscosmos
Simone Biles is withdrawing from the final staff occasion of the Olympic Video games in Tokyo as a consequence of a psychological drawback
Stay outcomes, updates and highlights from the Olympic Video games in Swimming from Day four of the 2021 Tokyo Video games


text:
Danish Media Group
Speech Writing / Coaching
Copyright 2017. Danish Media Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved
The new musical, based on the Wagner Opera is on the verge of being optioned by a major Broadway producer, full readings and concept recording to follow in the Fall.
More details at the website: FLYINGDUTCHMANTHEMUSICAL.COM
or on Facebook or My Space.
GODS, GUNS & GREED
Danish Media went all "show biz" and produced the world premiere of the new play by Danish Media, President and CEO, Peter Danish: "Gods, Guns and Greed." The play, set in and based upon the war in Bosnia, was chosen by the White Plains Performing Arts Center for its "First Look" series of new works.
Details at the GODS, GUNS & GREED website:
www.wix.com/petermdanish/godsgunsandgreed
THE COTTON CLUB
DMG is extremely proud to announce that CEO Peter Danish has been chosen by J. Quinn Productions to write the book for the eagerly anticipated new Broadway Musical: The Cotton Club Musical. More details will follow as they become available.
DMG Theatricals
DMG has expanded beyond broadcast media into arts and entertainment and the theatrical arena.


Welcome to the PlexGuide YouTube Video Channel Series! Here, you can gain insight on how to use PlexGuide and also how it works. At PlexGuide, we are about sharing knowledge to make the program not only better, but to have our users more educated on how it works! Hopefully so, that you can even contribute to the project! This video series will continue to grow!
Subscribe to the Channel and Thumbs Up + Comment the Videos!
How To Subscribe to the PG Video Series!
Excellent. I am a newbie to the Plex server and Gdrive. Would I need a dedicated physical server or VPS to run the GDrive on my plex? I understand the Plex pass is not required.
Thanks. Can this be installed on android (shield TV) or NAS?
Well, no. This is for a system that runs UBUNTU. Plex can play to a TV. Not a NAS either. You can use VMWare or Virtual Box.
Discussion Does this error mean I have set it up incorrectly or I have exceeded my letsencrypt limit or both?


text:
We Are Many - a feature length documentary film
We Are Many is a feature length documentary on the story and legacy of the biggest protest in history, which took place on 15 Feb 2003.
Amir Amirani
Rewards Campaign FAQ 10 Updates 36 Comments 62 Community
Project We Love London, UK Documentary
Thank you for your amazing support…
We did it! It has been a rollercoaster 35 days. In the end, we finally have the crucial funds to begin filming and production. All thanks to your generous support!
You can reach us at : info@wearemany.tv
The Kickstarter campaign has ended, but our journey has just begun! It will be a long road ahead, and every last bit of support will make a difference. We Are Many is going to be a big undertaking, with multi-national filming in Asia, Africa, Europe and the USA, and will require a great deal of archive footage. The funds we raised in this Kickstarter campaign will cover just slightly over the minimum budget to begin filming. We wholeheartedly welcome any further support from you. These include extra funding and your stories of the day.
WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW
VISIT OUR WEBSITE: http://www.wearemany.tv/
There are many ways you can continue help us through our website:
DONATE - PayPal or if in the US via Film Forum, & it'stax deductible!
1. If you missed the Kickstarter campaign, and still wish to make a donation to the making of We Are Many, please consider donating via PayPal at the website: http://www.wearemany.tv/. You can also donate direct to Film Forum, our 501 c3 Fiscal Sponsor in the US, and all of your donation will be 100% tax deductible.
2. We have big plans for the WEBSITE for this project.
We plan to grow it into a COMMUNITY of EVERYONE who MARCHED that day. Estimates range between 15-30 million people that took part on 15 February 2003. Yes, we want everyone of them who can, to come and join this unique community. They can use the site as a way to connect with others, and to open up ways to take collective action, discuss ideas and make their voices heard.
We are building this site into a permanent ARCHIVE of stories, pictures, videos, audio, songs and art inspired by 15 February 2003.
3. Your STORIES and experiences of 15 February 2003 are really important to us, and we'd love you to write them on the film's website: http://www.wearemany.tv/. Please do visit, sign up and tell us about your experience. We would like the site to be a MONUMENT to a historic day.
We will in turn:
give updates about our progress.
make available a selection of highlights, teasers and behind-the-scene videos, and share some of the amazing stories we have gathered.
make a documentary that we hope will make us all proud and record an important day for posterity.
We are extremely grateful to all the support we have received so far. Without you, this important project would not have been able to proceed further. With your continued support, we can go on and finish the film. We are very excited and happy to have you alongside us in this journey. It is going to be worthwhile!
It's Not Over Yet - Continue to Support The Film!
Our dream is to make a great film, but also for We Are Many to be an oral history, and a kind of archive of the peace movement, a monument to people power. This $70K is just enough to get us started on shooting the movie. We CAN and we HAVE TO exceed our first goal. Every dollar above $70K is as needed and appreciated - it will help us get more of your stories filmed, help us include more locations, carry out research in a shorter time frame. The more money pledged, the better the movie will be.
Please join us in making the final push. We are extremely grateful for any big donations, but we also value and appreciate every contribution. Every dollar pledged will make a difference to this project, no matter how seemingly small. It will be an amazing journey to make We Are Many, and we wholeheartedly welcome everyone to accompany us.
We brought this project on Kickstarter to bring it direct to you, the people! This is a film about a global movement driven by a growing community of a very diverse range of people around the planet, Occupy being the latest chapter. As such it will only get made with the support of the same community. A film about US who are many and can make a difference.
We Are Many is a documentary about the never-before-told story of the biggest protest in history, on 15 February 2003, and its legacy, through the Arab Spring to the Occupy Movement. The day that saw an estimated 30 million people in over 700 cities around the world, gave birth to a new global social movement.
What we are witnessing around the world today with the 99% in America, the Indignados in Spain, UK Uncut, the Arab Spring, is directly linked to what took place on February 15 2003. From Wall Street to Wisconsin, from Madrid to Athens, and all across the Middle East, people are rising up to make their voices heard. This is a story of anger, passion and remarkable people striving for justice and democracy. It's a story of huge change happening in our time.
We will bring you the real story, the people's story, including interviews with those whose protest experiences catapulted them into founding 'people powered' campaigning movements. Most of the people who helped create the biggest human gathering ever seen in one day are unknown ordinary people reaching for the extraordinary.
We will demonstrate the remarkable links between the 2003 protests and the Arab Spring, as well as with the occupation of cities across Europe, and now in America too. The Occupy Movement in America and rest of the world is the latest chapter of one of the great untold stories of people power. Our cameras are there to capture the historic moments.
Join us and be a part of it!
WHO'S BACKING US?
Ken Loach - World-renowned film director is a Patron of the project
Danny Glover - Actor and activist is a Patron of the project
Jesse Jackson
Richard O'Brien - Writer of the Rocky Horror Show
Medea Benjamin - Code Pink
Mark Rylance - British Actor
Lindsay German - Stop The War Coalition
Ricken Patel - Co-founder of Avaaz
Leslie Cagan - United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ)
Tim Robbins - Actor
Arundhati Roy - Author
Oliver Stone - Oscar-winning Film Director, Producer and Screenwriter
"The global protest against the Iraq War on 15 February 2003 was a pivotal moment in recent history, the consequences of which have gone unreported. Amir Amirani's We Are Many chronicles the struggle to shift power from the old establishment to the new superpower that is global public opinion, through the prism of one historic day. I urge you to support this film in whatever way you can." Oliver Stone
The Tipping Point Film Fund
Puma Awards
TED Fellowship Team
Sundance/BritDoc Good Pitch
Joseph Clark Charitable Trust
Here is one of our backers, Mark Rylance, talking about supporting We Are Many the documentary.
Monty Python star Terry Jones urges support for We Are Many.
Producer-Director Amir Amirani has gathered a stellar team to make this film happen.
Rachel Portman - Academy Award winning composer
Immy Humes - Academy Award nominated US Producer
Taghi Amirani - Executive Producer and TED Senior Fellow
Laura Hastings-Smith - Producer 'Hunger', Cannes Camera D'Or winner
Frances Stonor Saunders, Co-Producer
We are also very pleased that PBS in America through Independent Lens, have expressed an interest in acquiring and broadcasting the film, and UK distributor Dogwoof have expressed an interest in distribution.
TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS
In the USA, we are proud that our 501 (c) 3 Fiscal Sponsor is the renowned Film Forum in NY.
All pledges made to this film are 100% tax deductible.
We have already received media attention in The Guardian, The Times, Alliance Magazine, the world's leading philanthropy publication, and in the leading European Documentary magazine Dox, writing about Pitches in Europe.
You can visit the We Are Many Website, and our Facebook page, as well as Twitter: @15Feb2003
WOULD LIKE TO PLAY A BIGGER PART?
To discuss playing a greater part in the film, please contact us directly on:
info@wearemany.tv
•	Special Thanks on the film Website
•	And listed on the Donor Wall on the website.
(Around £3 / €4) All the above. PLUS: • Access to the exclusive update and Behind-the-Scenes videos in our "Backers Only" updates--please promise to tell 15 friends about our project!
(Around £6 / €7)
All the above. PLUS:
•	HD Digital Download of the feature film
•	Personally signed 'Thank you' post card
from the director!
(Around £16 / €18)
•	Limited Edition DVD copy of the film.
•	Poster of the film signed by the director, featuring the film's logo, cast of characters, all on glossy paper suitable for framing.
•	For the fan who wants to see 'We Are Many' at its very best, we'll send you the Special Edition Blu-Ray Combo Pack (featuring Blu-Ray, limited edition DVD and 2 x HD Digital copies of the film).
•	Digital Still from the film, suitable for printing and framing.
•	Photo Book of the film's production signed by the Director and Producer;
•	Digital still from the film;
•	A DVD Box Set of 3 of the director's previous films for the BBC.
(Around £155 / €180)
All the above. PLUS: • VIP Ticket to the 'Cast and Crew Party' - one in USA and one in UK. • Limited Edition CD of film's Soundtrack.• Special Director's Cut of the film with DVD Extras.
All the above. PLUS
• VIP Ticket to the Film Premiere - one in the USA and one in UK.
• Special listing in the Premier Invitation materials, and in all Press Releases and Marketing materials.
•	Want to see your name on the big screen as a SPECIAL PRODUCER – this is for you! Listed as Special Producer on the film and in IMDB.
•	A Personal Screening of the film for you! With live running commentary (if you want it). And food. I'll bring the film and the food…And if we are in your town on the east or west coast of the US, in London, or Berlin, Rome, Barcelona or Sydney, we'll film you with a brief message to be permanently carried on the website.
•	2 x VIP tickets to the Premiere.
•	2 x VIP tickets to the 'Cast and Crew Party'.
•	3 Blu-Rays and DVD, and 3 HD Digital Downloads of the feature film.
(Around £1000 / €1163)
All the above, including SPECIAL PRODUCER credit on the film and in IMDB. PLUS:
• A Personal Screening of the film for you with the Director and Producer!
• VIP Sponsors Party + 1 guest.
•	3 x VIP Tickets to the premiere;
(Around £2000 / €2300) All the above, including DISTINGUISHED PRODUCER credit on the film and in IMDB. PLUS: • A Personal Screening of the film for you with the Director and Producer! • VIP Sponsors Party + 2 guests. • We come to your home and film YOUR STORY of 15 February 2003, to be permanently featured on the website, and considered for possible inclusion in the film. •	3 x VIP Tickets to the premiere; •3 x VIP tickets to the 'Cast and Crew Party'. •5 Blu-Rays and DVD, and 5 HD Digital Downloads of the feature film.
•	ASSOCIATE PRODUCER Credit on the film and in IMDB.
•	5 x VIP Ticket to the Post-Premier Party;
•	5 x VIP Tickets to the Premiere
•	10 copies of Limited edition Blu-Ray DVD of the film; 5 HD Digital Downloads of the feature film; Special Thanks on the film website and in the film credits.
Pledge US$ 10,000 About US$ 10,000
•	CO-PRODUCER Credit on the film and in IMDB.
•	10 copies of Limited edition DVD of the film; 5 HD Digital Downloads of the feature film; Special Thanks on the film website and in the film credits. .
Nov 8, 2011 - Dec 13, 2011 (35 days)


*The activities involve laying the label cards on the work space, and matching the cards in such a way as to create compound, suffix and prefix words. Matches are made with antonyms, synonyms, homophones and homographs.
*The activities call for the child to identify capitals, periods, apostrophes, commas and quotations. The activities allow the child to practice classification, alphabetizing, the use of guide words for research, dictionary skill building and Thesaurus usage.
Please also note that, since this set contains 5000 cards, there is the possibility that you find yourself missing a few cards----either due to a collating and packaging error on our part or from the sorting and shuffling of cards as the teacher assembles the set. Through the year, you may loose cards as well. Therefore, we include many blank cards with which you can use a sharpie to make new cards.
The cards are pastel colors of blue, pink, yellow, green, lavender and grey. Each card is coded with a letter and a numeral.


Newly renovated apartment up the hill from Washington Square and in the Historic Hill. New kitchen, new wiring, new plumbing, refurbished hardwoods. Three large bedrooms with closets. New Bathrooms with marble floors and tile walls. New stainless appliances, new Washer and Dryer in unit. Designated off street parking. Get this apartment and be the first to use everything.
I was searching for a Property and found this listing (MLS® #1218963). Please send me more information regarding 27 Mt. Vernon St, Newport, Rhode Island, 02840. Thank you!
I'd like to request a showing of 27 Mt. Vernon St, Newport, Rhode Island, 02840 (MLS® #1218963). Thank you!
Listing information last updated on April 22nd, 2019 at 3:03pm CDT.


Behind the scenes, President Obama's proclamation above betrays his ongoing political maneuverings against retired General David Petraeus. President Obama has successfully derailed any future 2016 run for the White House Petraeus may have had. Now President Obama must keep retired General Petraeus silent on what really happened leading up to and after the Benghazi massacre.
White House sources told Bloomberg News that the Obama administration has sought Petraeus's advice on the fight against the Islamic State and that he still has his security clearance.
As Director of the CIA, General Petraeus, was in a unique position to know all details surrounding the Benghazi terrorist attack. Petraeus knows who was responsible for the now infamous 'stand down' order, why repeated requests for additional security at the Benghazi compound were ignored, and why was Turkish Consul General Ali Sait Akin meeting with Ambassador Stevens one hour before the attack on September 11, 2012?
Approximately one hour after the meeting with General Ali Sait Akin, Ambassador Chris Stevens, information management officer Sean Smith and former Navy SEALS Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty were killed during an extended assault by more than 100 Islamic Jihadists.
Are we faced with a typical blackmail situation?
Is the Sword of Damocles over Petraeus' head regarding his potentially damaging testimony at Rep. Trey Gowdy's Benghazi hearings?
Would General Petraeus potentially implicate Hillary Clinton and the Obama Administration in a legacy destroying Benghazi coverup that cost four Americans their lives, amongst them a United States Ambassador?


text:
Math Algebra 1 Irrational numbers Irrational numbers
Intro to rational & irrational numbers
This is the currently selected item.
Classifying numbers: rational & irrational
Practice: Classify numbers: rational & irrational
Sums and products of rational and irrational numbers
Current time:0:00Total duration:5:55
0 energy points
Math·Algebra 1·Irrational numbers·Irrational numbers
CCSS.Math:
8.NS.A.1
Google ClassroomFacebookTwitter
So let's talk a little bit about rational numbers. And the simple way to think about it is any number that can be represented as the ratio of two integers is a rational number. So for example, any integer is a rational number. 1 can be represented as 1/1 or as negative 2 over negative 2 or as 10,000/10,000. In all of these cases, these are all different representations of the number 1, ratio of two integers. And I obviously can have an infinite number of representations of 1 in this way, the same number over the same number. The number negative 7 could be represented as negative 7/1, or 7 over negative 1, or negative 14 over positive 2. And I could go on, and on, and on, and on. So negative 7 is definitely a rational number. It can be represented as the ratio of two integers. But what about things that are not integers? For example, let us imagine-- oh, I don't know-- 3.75. How can we represent that as the ratio of two integers? Well, 3.75, you could rewrite that as 375/100, which is the same thing as 750/200. Or you could say, hey, 3.75 is the same thing as 3 and 3/4-- so let me write it here-- which is the same thing as-- that's 15/4. 4 times 3 is 12, plus 3 is 15, so you could write this. This is the same thing as 15/4. Or we could write this as negative 30 over negative 8. I just multiplied the numerator and the denominator here by negative 2. But just to be clear, this is clearly rational. I'm giving you multiple examples of how this can be represented as the ratio of two integers. Now, what about repeating decimals? Well, let's take maybe the most famous of the repeating decimals. Let's say you have 0.333, just keeps going on and on forever, which we can denote by putting that little bar on top of the 3. This is 0.3 repeating. And we've seen-- and later we'll show how you can convert any repeating decimal as the ratio of two integers-- this is clearly 1/3. Or maybe you've seen things like 0.6 repeating, which is 2/3. And there's many, many, many other examples of this. And we'll see any repeating decimal, not just one digit repeating. Even if it has a million digits repeating, as long as the pattern starts to repeat itself over and over and over again, you can always represent that as the ratio of two integers. So I know what you're probably thinking. Hey, Sal, you've just included a lot. You've included all of the integers. You've included all of finite non-repeating decimals, and you've also included repeating decimals. What is left? Are there any numbers that are not rational? And you're probably guessing that there are, otherwise people wouldn't have taken the trouble of trying to label these as rational. And it turns out-- as you can imagine-- that actually some of the most famous numbers in all of mathematics are not rational. And we call these numbers irrational numbers. And I've listed there just a few of the most noteworthy examples. Pi-- the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle-- is an irrational number. It never terminates. It goes on and on and on forever, and it never repeats. e, same thing-- never terminates, never repeats. It comes out of continuously compounding interest. It comes out of complex analysis. e shows up all over the place. Square root of 2, irrational number. Phi, the golden ratio, irrational number. So these things that really just pop out of nature, many of these numbers are irrational. Now, you might say, OK, are these irrational? These are just these special kind of numbers. But maybe most numbers are rational, and Sal's just picked out some special cases here. But the important thing to realize is they do seem exotic, and they are exotic in certain ways. But they aren't uncommon. It actually turns out that there is always an irrational number between any two rational numbers. Well, we could go on and on. There's actually an infinite number. But there's at least one, so that gives you an idea that you can't really say that there are fewer irrational numbers than rational numbers. And in a future video, we'll prove that you give me two rational numbers-- rational 1, rational 2-- there's going to be at least one irrational number between those, which is a neat result, because irrational numbers seem to be exotic. Another way to think about it-- I took the square root of 2, but you take the square root of any non-perfect square, you're going to end up with an irrational number. You take the sum of an irrational and a rational number-- and we'll see this later on. We'll prove it to ourselves. The sum of an irrational and a rational is going to be irrational. The product of an irrational and a rational is going to be irrational. So there's a lot, a lot, a lot of irrational numbers out there.


text:
A ghost of something great.
By Kallie Plagge on March 30, 2017 at 2:15PM PDT
Drawing from the original manga, the 1995 anime film, and the 2002 series Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Ghost in the Shell takes steps toward adapting its source material for a more modern age. Its version of a robotic future-Japan is stunning, and its simultaneously beautiful yet gritty art and action capture the original's tone. But Ghost in the Shell asks a lot of interesting questions that it neglects to answer in equally interesting ways, and its near-total omission of Japanese voices and identities in a story about identity is a failure too great to ignore.
Like the original, Ghost in the Shell presents a near-future Japan where cybernetic enhancements are commonplace--almost everyone has a bit of robot in them, from the ability to communicate telepathically to livers built for heavy drinking. But the Major (played by Scarlett Johansson) is the first of her kind: a human brain transplanted into a fully robotic body. She inhabits a shell, and somewhere underneath a fog that obscures her memories, there is a "ghost" of the person she was before.
Ghost in the Shell - Design Trailer
In one of the earliest and most captivating scenes in the movie, the Major scopes out a planned attack on a meeting between an executive of the Hanka Corporation, which manufactures cybernetics and is responsible for the Major's body, and a foreign leader. The meeting takes place in a somewhat traditional-looking teahouse, but the geisha serving the men are fully robotic. The juxtaposition is hauntingly beautiful; when the attack begins, the geisha change forms to something much less humanoid, and the illusion is shattered.
The scene--which was shown in the trailers--is Ghost in the Shell at its strongest, as it succinctly sets the stage for how technology has shaped its world. The Major enters and easily defeats the threats with a body built for combat, but she pauses just before shooting a geisha-bot, which begs for its life. But, of course, its life is a fabrication, its sentience only imagined, which makes its vulnerability staggering.
Ghost in the Shell is and always has been a story about identity, both individually and societally. The movie arrives at its central question--what it means to be human--almost immediately, as the Hanka scientist who made the Major's shell explains to her that it's our actions, not our memories, that define us. But the Major is clearly unconvinced, and the movie very rapidly narrows in scope to focus on the Major's identity specifically.
That alone isn't a bad thing. As an adaptation, Ghost in the Shell takes liberties with its source material, and in places it works. We get to see how Batou (Pilou Asbaek) loses his eyes and watch his adjustment to his iconic robotic ones. But the shuffling of the story's order also dampens the impact of key scenes. The encounter with the garbageman who falsely believes he has a wife and daughter, for example, happens so late into the movie that the revelation that he's been hacked and given false memories isn't a revelation at all. The movie is already firmly about the Major at this point, so the fact that his reality isn't really reality isn't that meaningful.
Unfortunately, the truth about the Major's reality also lacks meaning--for worse reasons.
[Warning: Spoilers ahead.]
It's impossible to have a story about identity while ignoring and erasing the identities at its core. This became a well-known issue after the cast was announced; Johansson plays an altered version of the Major named Mira Killian, rather than the original Japanese Motoko Kusanagi. Many argued that Johansson's casting in particular was whitewashing, taking an Asian role away from an Asian actor, which is also reflected in the largely non-Japanese main cast. But the reveal toward the end of the movie absolutely cements the race problem with this adaptation of Ghost in the Shell.
As it turns out, the background the Hanka scientists had given to "Mira"--that her parents were killed in a terrorist attack and she was saved by robotics--was fake. The ghost at her core is actually that of a Japanese anti-technology rebel named Motoko Kusanagi, one of many runaways who were captured for the purpose of Hanka's experiments. So, in addition to a starring role not going to a Japanese actor, the character herself was transformed from Japanese to white--and Ghost in the Shell neglects to address how race affects her in any way. In a movie about a person searching for her identity and humanity.
The Major reunites with her mother--who is Japanese and has an accent--in a jarring scene at Kusanagi's grave that culminates in a relatively emotionless hug. We learn next to nothing about the underground network of rebels--which is the most interesting part of the entire movie--except what her mother briefly tells her. And despite understanding Japanese, the Major inexplicably speaks English to her mother, further robbing the scene of whatever impact it could have had.
The only person in the main cast who actually speaks Japanese is Aramaki (played by Takeshi Kitano), the head of the task force Section 9 and essentially the Major's boss. Kitano does an excellent job with the character and plays the wise-but-badass boss brilliantly, allowing him to shine among otherwise lackluster character development. But being the only prominent character who ever speaks Japanese clashes with the overwhelmingly Japanese setting: a city peppered with silent women in traditional Japanese clothing and holographic koi fish swimming around buildings, but populated in the foreground by English-speaking Westerners.
It's impossible to have a story about identity while ignoring and erasing the identities at its core.
Even though Ghost in the Shell does things well--its stylized take on the original's sci-fi, its often well-choreographed action, its exciting pace--it doesn't accomplish the main thing it intends to. The movie not only doesn't answer or even truly explore the questions it raises, it also mishandles a story about identity by largely excluding the people it's about. That's a critical failure, and one that cannot be rectified by cool-looking geisha robots.
Upvote (39)
Kallie Plagge
Kallie Plagge is GameSpot's Reviews Editor. She loves Pokemon, inventory management, and Grunt Birthday Party.
@inkydojikko
PS5 Restock News: Check Inventory At Target, Sam's Club, Best Buy, And More
New Best Buy Sale Discounts Switch Exclusives, Gaming Laptops, And 4K TVs
Elijah Wood Talks Amazon's Lord Of The Rings TV Show
New Xbox Game Pass Titles For January 2021 Just Got Even Bigger
PS Plus Subscribers Can Snag 3 Free Games In January
Destiny 2 Harbinger Guide: How To Find The Start And Re-Roll Hawkmoon
Cyberpunk 2077 Bunnyhopping Is Faster Than Any Car You Can Find
Netflix Will Release A New Movie Every Week All Year -- See The The Full List Of 70 Movies
Pokemon Go Hack Lawsuit Ends With $5 Million Settlement
Godzilla Vs Kong Moves Forward, Will Hit HBO Max And Theaters In March
New On Netflix This Week: Spycraft, Blown Away, And More
Scalpers Continue To Snatch Up PS5 Orders, Retailer Investigating
Which PS4 Games Don't Work On PS5?
Yakuza: Like A Dragon Is One Of Many PC Games Getting A Big Discount In Humble's Winter Sale
Rami Malek Joins The Next David O. Russell Movie, Adding To Its Impressive Cast
Nintendo Switch New Year Sale Is Live At Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop, And More
Apex Legends Season 8: Start Date, Fuse, New Weapon, And More


text:
You are here: Home / Features / Reportage / The Maltese ftira (flatbread) and how it made it to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list
The Maltese ftira (flatbread) and how it made it to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list
January 18, 2021 by Ivan Brincat Leave a Comment
MALTA: As the sun sets on the horizon children come out of the sea and asks her parents for something to eat. It is the middle of summer and nothing is more appetising that a local flatbread known as ftira with tomatoes, tuna, olives, capers, basil and olive oil. You could say that's the taste of Malta, the taste of an island in the middle of the Mediterranean.
This must be the most common 'sandwich' on the Mediterranean island and more often than not it is not the hobza tal-Malti (Maltese loaf) but rather the ftira typical of Malta that is used to quench the appetite after a summer swim.
Now, that sourdough flatbread or ftira has been classified as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list.
Local historian Noel Buttigieg, who took the lead in presenting the case to UNESCO knows the importance bread has held in local history. He has taken it upon himself to raise awareness and also help raise the quality of this Maltese bread.
"We choose the Maltese ftira and not the Maltese loaf of bread for a simple reason that the Maltese loaf has changed over the years while the Maltese ftira, despite change, has remained intrinsically the same. It is also an important leveller in society as it knows no economic, social or political boundaries," Dr Buttigieg told Food and Wine Gazette.
The first reference to this Maltese bread dates back to at least the 16th century. "It used to be baked in the ovens of the Knights of St John in Valletta in the 16th century and it used to be called 'sciacciata' in Italian," Dr Buttigieg told Food and Wine Gazette.
What makes this bread unique compared to other flatbreads in the Mediterranean is that these normally don't have a rising process while the Maltese ftira, because it uses the same ingredients as a normal loaf, is stopped from rising and actually pinched to create a hole in the middle.
It was created out of necessity and the shape and form has remained the same. When the baker is shaping the dough to make this type of flatbread, the air is removed from the dough unlike for a normal loaf of bread. At a time when bakers did not have temperature control in their stone overs, they would cook the flatbread not to waste energy or wood because it needed high heat to cook and the cooking process was short. "While the traditional Maltese bread requires 60 to 100 minutes of cooking time, the ftira only takes 20 minutes at double the temperature.
Noel Buttigieg
Dr Buttigieg knows the importance of food today when it comes to tourism but he emphasis that the ftira is a perfect reflection of Malta. "If you are not someone interested in gastronomy and you are not travelling to eat sophisticated food, you can still get a taste of Malta with a ftira. In its simplicity, it is very rich both flavour wise but also culturally because it defines who the Maltese are."
His recommendation is to have it stuffed in the most traditional manner with tomatoes, capers, pickled onions, olives and herbs. "The Maltese have always managed to do a lot with just a little. The ingredients in a Maltese ftira are a reflection of this. At its most traditional, the Maltese ftira is made with produce that is really poor and humble. These are ingredients that have been processed like capers that have been salted, onions that have been pickled and tomatoes that have been made into a paste (when tomatoes are not in season) and olives."
Dr Buttigieg is trying to raise the bar when it comes to getting a taste of Malta even with a Maltese ftira eaten from a snack bar or kiosk. "This project is much bigger than the ftira. Take olives as an example. We should ensure that local produce is used throughout the process. Ultimately we need to help the farming community. In Malta we do not have mountains, forests or rivers and farmers are the only people that are really safeguarding our environment and landscape through cultivated fields," he said.
Dr Buttigieg is worried that a lot of the local heritage linked to bakeries that appeared on the island at the time of the Knights of St John are disappearing. "Only in one village Qormi (with a population of around 15,000) there used to be over 50 artisanal bakeries 20 years ago, now we are down to 15," he said.
Now that the ftira has been recognised as intangible cultural heritage of humanity Dr Buttigieg's work is just starting. "This was just the first step in what I call a prologue. I would like to see a group of bread makers come together to take the product seriously. We need to find those that are willing to work to improve the quality. We also need to establish parameters. We do not want to stifle creativity but rather to recognise what constitutes a 'ftira'."
He knows that bread is also a subject of our memories and habits. "What we know about bread is what our grandparents have told us and what we have tasted but that's not necessarily the reality. Today we are going back to wholemeal bread but that was how bread used to be in the past before white bread was created with lots of waste. So we are going back full circle," he said.
In his research, Dr Buttigieg has found a contract which included the exact mix of wheat and flour that was used to make the ftira in the 17th century. And he has also come across scientific evidence of the name of wheat that was grown and used in Malta in the early 1800s. "We know where we can get these types of wheat from and we are looking at starting the process to bring this back to Malta," he said.
"Work does not stop there. We need to look at the ftira as a process, what wheat is used, how it is milled, the fermentation process, how it is made. We need to experiment to be able to improve the product," he said.
As a historian who has studied bread in the discourse of 18th century women in Malta, Dr Buttigieg says bread has always played an important role in history. "We have never heard of revolutions that started because of a wine shortage but when bread was missing, there has always been turmoil and huge political change," he said.
"When it comes to bread, change started to happen in Malta after the Second World War. Before that, the Maltese could not really be creative because of shortages. But with just a little, they managed to create a lot. They managed to change the flavour of the bread just by using a knife to cut the dough in a particular way. From the same ingredients they could create something different," he said.
Over the past few years, there has been a bit of a food revival in the small island of Malta. But the journey is only just starting.
Filed Under: Reportage
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #112
Dreaming big: Nothing is impossible for Kristian Brask Thomsen
Franco Pepe gets the Best Chef Pizza award


text:
Sounding Out the Past
By Nick D'Alto Premium
A great-great-grandmother describes a family Christmas from 1924. A mild-mannered father remembers his brush with fame — delivering a baby on a subway train. And a veteran of World War II recalls his astonishing luck, far from home and a lifetime ago.
These are just a few of the stories being preserved by StoryCorps, an oral history project dedicated to helping Americans record the memories of everyday people. Modeled after the Works Progress Administration programs that chronicled oral histories during the Great Depression, StoryCorps is the brainchild of nonprofit documentary filmmaker Dave Isay. His motivation? Create an enduring record of"everyday" history — those often-fascinating vignettes of daily life that rarely make it into the history books.
With funding from corporations and foundations, Isay is building StoryBooths — soundproof, broadcast-quality recording studios — in public places such as airports, train stations and community centers across rhe country. Anyone who cares about the past can reserve a 40-minute session in a StoryBooth and use the studio equipment to record oral history interviews, all for $10.
Interview subjects needn't have led extraordinary lives. "We're waiting to help you interview your grandmother about how she came to America," Isay says. "Your greatuncle about his childhood on the farm, or maybe your best friend from grammar school." Their memories become personal documentaries in sound.
Trained facilitators help participants fine-tune their list of questions ("How did you and Grandpa meet?" "Why was Uncle Harry nicknamed 'Twinkles'?") and handle the technical aspects of making the recordings. When a session ends, participants receive a copy of the interview on CD. With their permission, a second copy becomes a permanent part of the American Folklife Center archive in the Library of Congress <www.loc.gov/folklife>
StoryCorps began operation in October 2003 with its flagship booth at Manhattan's Grand Central Terminal. Additional booths in Chicago, Los Angeles and other cities are in the works. Mobile StoryBooths are slated to travel cross-country during 2005, and StoryKits with easy-to-use minidisc recorders will help participants record genealogies at home.
To reserve a StoryCorps StoryBooth, call (212) 941-8553. You also can make a reservation online and learn more about StoryCorps at <www.storycorps.net>.
Nick D'Alto