Day: July 1, 2024

By Sanchita Bhattacharya

A report titled, “Afghanistan: Violence Against Health Care in Conflict 2023“, published on June 24, 2024, exposed the horrid situation of health workers and staff in the country under the Taliban regime. More than 80 per cent of cases of violence against health care were ascribed to the Afghan government, Police, and intelligence forces, all of which are under the active control of the Taliban. The report identified 109 incidents of violence against, or obstruction of health care personnel and organisations in Afghanistan in 2023, compared to 87 in 2022.

In addition, at least 65 health workers were arrested or detained for questioning by Taliban forces in 38 incidents in 2023, compared to 33 arrests in 25 incidents in 2022.

The report further stated that violent incidents were widely dispersed across 28 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces. Zabul province recorded the highest number of such cases. Cases attributed to the Taliban more than doubled in Balkh province between 2022 and 2023. As in previous years, incidents continued to be reported in Herat and Kabul provinces.

According to partial data collated byInstitute for Conflict Management, 16 health care workers and doctors have been killed in 10 incidents (data till June 30), since the Taliban takeover of August, 2021.

Often Taliban operatives and ‘unknown perpetrators’ armed with guns beat health workers, shut down medical facilities, arrest and harass doctors and health providers.

Some such incidents include:

As reported on June 10, 2024, Taliban closed the Baran Health Institute in Bamiyan Province and detained its Director, Nvid Mozaffari, for giving anti-Taliban statements.

As reported on May 24, 2024, Dr. Sardar, owner of a hospital in Badakhshan Province, lost his life due to brutal torture inflicted by the Taliban. According to local reports, he was beaten by Taliban fighters, which led to his death.

On December 27, 2023, the head of the Medical Education Development Section at the Kabul University of Medical Sciences, Abdul Ghafar Hamdard, was shot dead by unidentified armed assailants inside his clinic at Roshan Hospital in the Kart-e-Naw area of Kabul.

As reported on November 25, 2023, in the Sarak-e Char area in Taloqan city of Takhar Province, Taliban forces apprehended Nabila Rahimi, a human rights activist and UNDP-affiliated health educator. She was reported to have been mistreated during her arrest.

On October 10, 2023, a female doctor, in the Maimana City maternity hospital in Faryab Province was forcibly removed from her workplace by a Taliban fighter.

On June 5, 2023, three Taliban operatives beat up a female nurse in Mazar-e-Sharif, Balkh Province. Based on reports from local sources, the nurse was severely injured.

On May 30, 2023, 28 NGO-funded and private health centers were raided and equipment destroyed by Taliban forces in Qalat city.

In May 2024, with a dire health crisis ongoing across the country, Qalandar Ebad a qualified physician and Taliban’s Minister of Public Health, was removed from his position, and in his place Noor Jalal, a cleric and former Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Interior, was appointed.

Worse still, Afghanistan’s healthcare system teeters at the edge of collapse, as the Taliban channel most state resources toward defense and intelligence services. The Taliban’s budget for 2023-24 of USD 3,548.00 million provides an insight into the regime’s priorities, in which the budget of Ministry of Defence was USD 616.80 million, 17. 38 per cent of the total budget, and on the other hand, the Ministry of Public Health was allocated USD 80.00 million, 2.25 per cent of the total budget.

Further, nonprofit organisations and international donors are prohibited from employing female staff, and financial curbs have limited the outreach of aid organizations. In turn, vital community lifelines, such as rural clinics and nutrition centers have also been closed.

As reported on June 11, 2024, 17.9 million people require health assistance in Afghanistan, while 9.5 million have limited or no access to healthcare facilities. Afghanistan is one of the two countries in the world (the second is Pakistan) where polio is still prevalent. Recent estimates have suggested that under the Taliban regime, Afghanistan has 0.33 doctors per 1,000 people, as compared to 20 per 1,000 in high-income countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a minimum rate of 2.5 doctors per 1,000. This shortage is disastrous in a country already grappling with some of the world’s worst health outcomes, including acute malnutrition, stunting, and high child and maternal mortality. According to WHO, as reported, on May 25, 2024, Afghanistan has the highest maternal mortality rate in Asia, with 638 deaths per 100,000 live births. Also, since the start of 2024, over 1,000 children under the age of five have died in Afghanistan from pneumonia, accounting for 88 per cent of all pediatric respiratory infection deaths. Sadly, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported on March 5, 2024, that 10 per cent of Afghan children under the age of five are malnourished and 45 per cent are stunted. According to UN Women’s Afghanistan Gender Country Profile 2024, published in June, 2024, only 10 per cent of women were able to cover their basic health needs, and approximately, 24,000 women give birth in hard-to-reach places in Afghanistan each month.

The healthcare system in Afghanistan has faced a severe crisis under Taliban rule. Citizens’ access to healthcare services has drastically decreased, and the majority of people, due to increasing poverty and persistent unemployment, cannot visit healthcare centers, enduring physical ailments along with mental distress. According to a June 9, 2024 report, last year (2023), 428 fixed and mobile health centers were forced to close in Afghanistan due to financial constraints. Besides, as reported on May 1, 2024, nearly 18 million Afghans, about 40 per cent of the population, have limited access to healthcare. Explaining the mental health challenges facing the population, Dr. Hanan Balkhy, the WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, stated in March 2024, “50 per cent of Afghanistan’s population suffers from mental distress, impacting productivity and quality of life. This renders individuals vulnerable to mental health disorders and substance use.”

Moreover, Afghanistan has an urgent need for female doctors, as they are often the only healthcare providers available for women and children. Since December 2022, Taliban has banned women in higher education, and more than 3,000 women who had already graduated from medical schools were barred from taking the board exams required to practice, depriving the country of a critical resource.

The Taliban’s governance in Afghanistan has no doubt failed to establish crucial regulatory frameworks necessary for advancing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) particularly SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), SDG 4 (Quality Education), and SDG 5 (Gender Equality). Their inability to enforce policies ensuring equitable access to healthcare services, exacerbates health disparities and obstructs progress toward SDG 3. Following the Taliban takeover in August 2021, international development aid was suspended, while in 2023 humanitarian aid also decreased in value by over USD 1 billion. This decrease in aid occurred against the backdrop of rising humanitarian needs. Furthermore, as 428 fixed and mobile healthcare centers were forced to shut down (as mentioned above) between January and December 2023, which has had detrimental impact on access to healthcare for over three million people, including more than 600,000 children under five and over 240,000 pregnant women.

The existing problems of the health system in Afghanistan have been amplified by the Taliban’s August 2021 takeover, after which the country has faced a problematic security situation, financial stoppages, donor funding disruptions and international health staff evacuations. The health sector of Afghanistan is in total shambles, and worsening with the continuation of the Taliban regime. The Taliban apathy towards the general welfare of the population, including their health needs, is proving disastrous for the population of a country that has neither the resources nor the facilities to maintain even a basic minimum health service.

• Sanchita Bhattacharya
  Research Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management

By Deepak Kumar Nayak

On June 27, 2024, two women Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres carrying a cumulative reward of INR 1.6 million on their heads surrendered in Gadchiroli District. A release from the office of the Superintendent of Police (SP) identified them as BalialiasRambattialiasZarina Narote (28) and ShashikalaaliasChandrakalaaliasManisha Uike (29), both ‘platoon party committee’ members of the proscribed CPI-Maoist ‘company No. 10’. The surrender of these two women, with rewards of INR 800,000 each on their heads, comes within a week of Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee Member (DKSZCM) Giridhar, who was the district’s top Naxalite [left Wing Extremist, LWE], and his wife Sangeeta Usendi laying down arms. A total of 21 cases are registered against Narote, comprising 10 related to encounters, one each of arson and abduction, and nine related to other offences. Uike has eight cases against her name, of which six are related to encounters.

On June 23, 2024, CPI-Maoist ‘commander’ Nangsu TumarettialiasGiridhar (44), involved in major Naxal activities and carrying a cash award of INR 2.5 million, surrendered along with his wife Sangeeta UsendialiasLalita (35) in the presence of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in Gadchiroli District. Giridhar is an ambush and improvised explosive device (IED) specialist, whose efforts had fortified Maoist headquarters Abujhmarh and strongholds along the Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh border. He and his wife faced around 220 criminal charges and carried bounties totaling INR 4.1 million (Giridhar INR 2.5 million and Lalita INR 1.6 million).

On June 10, 2024, a wanted CPI-Maoist cadre, KishoraliasMukesh Kannake (37), with an INR 200,000 reward on his head, surrendered before the Police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Gadchiroli District. After joining ‘Jan Militia’ (the people’s army of the Maoists) as a member in 2014, Kannake quickly rose in the ranks and became the head of multiple Maoist factions like the Revolutionary People’s Council (RPC) and Dandakaranya Adivasi Kisan Majdoor Sangthan (DAKMS). He was involved in three encounters, four murders, setting multiple vehicles ablaze, planting explosives in forests, and propagating the Naxalite ideology. In a statement to the Police, Kannake revealed that many senior Maoist leaders not only exploited the tribal youth but also misused funds. He added that many tribals were killed by their leaders, suspecting them to be ‘police informers’.

These incidents of surrender are indicative of the growing disillusionment among cadres in the district.

According to partial data collated by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), at least six Naxalites [Left Wing Extremists, LWEs] have surrendered in Gadchiroli District since the beginning of 2024 (data till June 30). During the corresponding period in 2023, no surrender was reported. However, three Naxalites had surrendered in the remaining period of 2023. A total of 273 Naxalites has surrendered in the district since March 6, 2000, when SATP started documenting Naxalite violence and activities in the district and the State, as well as across the country. The first incident of surrender was registered on May 22, 2003, when 16 Naxalites of the People’s War Group (PWG) surrendered at Ghot village, Gadchiroli District. The Naxalites surrendered during a ‘Jan Jagran Abhiyan’ (Public Awareness Campaign) to create awareness among the villagers about Naxalite activities and also to bring back misguided youth to the mainstream.

Meanwhile, SFs have arrested seven Naxalites in the District in the current year (data till June 30, 2024), in addition, to seven cadres in 2023. A total of 364 Naxalites has been arrested since March 6, 2000. Significantly, the first incident of arrest was recorded by SATP on December 8, 2007, when Police detained three CPI-Maoist cadres from Jhadapapda village under Pendry Police Station limits in Gadchiroli District. The arrested Maoists were involved in several incidents in the neighbouring Kanker district of Chhattisgarh.

According to the SATP database, Gadchiroli has recorded eight fatalities (one civilian and seven Maoists) in Maoist-related violence in the current year (data till June 30, 2024). During the corresponding period in 2023, five fatalities (one civilian and four Maoists) were recorded in the district, while another six fatalities (four civilians and two Maoists) were recorded in the remaining period of 2023, taking the total to 11 fatalities (five civilians and six Maoists) through 2023. Significantly, while there has been an increase in overall fatalities in the current year, as compared to 2023, a closer analysis of the numbers suggests that the situation on the ground has actually improved. No fatality has been recorded in SF category thus far in 2024 (data till June 30, 2024). The last SF fatality was recorded on August 14, 2020, when a Police Constable, Dushyant Nandeshwar (26), was killed, while another Constable, Dinesh Bhosale, was injured when an CPI-Maoist ‘action team’ shot them in a market at Kothi village under the Bhamragad Tehsil (revenue unit) in Gadchiroli District.

Significantly, the overall SF:Naxalite kill ratio has remained in favour of the SFs, at 1:1.99, since March 6, 2000. However, the SFs have been ever more dominant since September 2020; (September 1, 2020, to July 30, 2024), killing 69 Naxalites, without losing any of their own personnel. Replying to a question in an interview on June 17, 2024, Gadchiroli Superintendent of Police (SP) Neelotpal, thus stated,

August 2020 was the last day in which Gadchiroli police had suffered any casualty. They had laid IEDs on our patrolling routes which we defused successfully. This year we have busted four camps. We seized three IEDs in three separate instances this year. There have been eight instances of exchange of fire this year in which we have neutralised seven Naxals. We have recovered several AK 47s, carbines and rifles. Four Naxals surrendered this year.

The security scenario in the district improved dramatically after the successful major assault [LINK: SAIR-20.21] of November 13, 2021. In the encounter initiated by Commando-60 (C-60, the special anti-Maoist Force of the Maharashtra Police) units in the Mardintola forests of the Gyarapatti area in Korchi Tehsil (revenue unit) of Gadchiroli District, the Maoists lost 27 top ranking cadres, including top Maoist leader Milind Baburao Teltumbde aka Deepak Teltumbde aka Sahyadri aka Jeeva, a ‘central committee’ member and ‘secretary’ of the CPI-Maoist ‘Maharashtra State Committee’, carrying a reward of INR five million on his head. Teltumbde was the ‘head’ of the MMC (Maharashtra-Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh) confluence zone of the rebels and was instrumental in building the Maoist movement in the State, along the Gondia, Balaghat and Mandla regions in Madhya Pradesh and the Rajnandgaon region of Chhattisgarh, over the preceding two decades. After his elimination, Maoist strength in the region declined substantially.

Moreover, in a recent assault on May 13, 2024, after 39 years, commandos in Gadchiroli crushed the Permili Dalam (armed squad) formation of the Peoples’ Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA), severing the supply chain to the Maoist headquarters in Abujhmarh. In the encounter, Permili Dalam, ‘commander’ Vasu Samar Korcha, who carried an INR 2.2 million bounty, was killed along with two women cadres, Reshma Madkam and Kamla Madavi, both members of Company No. 10 of Perimili Dalam. Reshma was also an ‘area committee member (ACM)’ of the PLGA. The Permili Dalam, established by educated Telugu youths, had turned Gadchiroli into the epicentre of Maoist violence since 1985, was one of the five armed formations under the South Gadchiroli division of Maoists in Dandakaranya zone, and was crucial for providing logistic support to insurgents in the ‘red corridor’, linking the north-south axis in the Maoist-affected district, spanning 14,400 square kilometres in northeastern Maharashtra.

Meanwhile, civilian fatalities, a key index of security of an area, have followed a cyclical trend in the district. One civilian fatality has been registered in the district in the current year (data till July 30, 2024). During the corresponding period of 2023, one civilian fatality was recorded, and another four in the remaining period of 2023, taking the total to five 2023. A maximum of 36 civilian fatalities was recorded in 2011, while a low of one fatality has been recorded on three occasions, in 2002, 2004, and 2024 (data till June 30, 2024).

According to a June 17, 2024, report, people from seven villages in Gadchiroli District have come together to stop Naxals from entering their villages. During an agricultural event, villagers gave copies of their decision to the Police at Dhodraj Station. The villages include Parayanar, Nelgunda, Kucher, Kawande, Gongwada, Mundapalli, and Mahakapadi. Further, according to a June 25, 2024, report, another six villages have taken commendable initiatives against the Naxalites. The villages include Aldandi, Bhatpar, Gopnar, Koir, Murungal, and Moradpar. The villagers of these 13 villages have opposed Naxalites and stopped providing them rations and water. Speaking on this initiative, SP Neelotpal observed,

13 villages have united today and declared a village bandh for the Naxalites. They have declared that they will not give food, rations, and water to the Naxalites. Also, the villagers have deposited the Naxalites’ cooker IED bombs, wires, batteries, 300 rods, and 5 loaded guns at the Gadchiroli police station. 

Meanwhile, during an interview on June 17, 2024, while replying to a question on the support of the locals to the Police in combating Naxalism, SP Neelotpal, noted,

We invested heavily in community policing, Police Dadalora Khidki, and Project Udaan. It has reached to 6.5 lakh beneficiaries in the last three years. These initiatives have led to winning hearts of people in Gadchiroli. Naxals rely on ground support for their execution of low-exposure warfare. Now, the people are not supporting them or not giving information about the location of the Police parties. This has also led to zero recruitment from Gadchiroli in the last three years in the Naxal fold. 

Gadchiroli has a total area of 14,412 square kilometres, of which 11,694 square kilometres, i.e., 78.40 per cent, fall under forest cover. The district has, for long, provided perfect topography for the Maoists to operate, as the task of locating and sanitising rebel hideouts is made difficult by the terrain. Further, its borders with four districts — Bijapur, Kanker, Narayanpur, and Rajnandgaon — in Chhattisgarh, the worst Naxal-affected Indian state, as well as two Maoist-affected districts — Adilabad and Karimnagar — of Telangana, make it an ideal safe haven for the Maoists. Gadchiroli emerged as the epicentre of Maoist violence in Maharashtra and, at its peak in 2009, had registered at least 99 fatalities, including 52 SF personnel, 37 Maoists, and 10 civilians. Subsequently, however, the district has seen a perceptible decline in impact and influence.

Several other parameters also indicate that the Maoists are losing control in Gadchiroli since the major assault of November 13, 2021. Apart from the cadre’s disillusionment, there has been noticeable waning in the other indicators of Maoist disruptive actions. No major incidents (each involving three or more fatalities) have been reported since November 13, 2021. At peak, eight such incidents were recorded in 2006. Four arson-related incidents have been recorded since November 13, 2021 – three in 2022, and one in 2023. At peak, 11 such incidents were recorded in 2019. Significantly, the Maoists have been unable to engineer an incident of explosion since 2019. The last explosion was orchestrated by the rebels on May 27, 2019, when CPI-Maoist cadres exchanged fire with a team of elite C-60 Commandos in Gadchiroli District, in which Maoists used an Under-Barrel Grenade Launcher (UBGL). At peak, five such incidents were recorded in 2005.

The Maoist influence and their impact are on a decline in Gadchiroli, one of their crucial strongholds in the past, a strategic confluence zone connecting Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Telangana. Sustained and aggressive consolidation against the Maoists by SFs and outreach by the civilian administration can ensure that the residual movement is eventually eradicated.

• Deepak Kumar Nayak
  Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management

‘Don’t trust the banks.’ Sen. Menendez’s sister takes the stand to defend her brother  News 12 New Jersey

Sen. Bob Menendez’s defense begins with sister testifying about family tradition of storing cash  Waco Tribune-Herald

Armenia, Azerbaijan Report Progress in Border Delimitation Talks  Armenian News by MassisPost

By Jim Garamone

U.S. commanders in Europe have placed bases in a higher state of alert, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said Monday. 

Singh wouldn’t comment on intelligence matters, but she said U.S. commanders in Europe raised the threat level in response to “a combination of factors and not related to a single threat.”

Those factors could impact the safety and security of service members and their families based in the region, she said.

“U.S. European Command is taking steps to increase vigilance for our service members, their families and our facilities,” she said during a Pentagon briefing. “This was done out of an abundance of caution. I won’t get into more specifics.” 

There are a number of high-profile events happening on the continent, including the 2024 European football championship and the upcoming Olympics in Paris. “There are a combination of factors, including events that are taking place in the theater that, just out of due diligence, it is good to make sure that our service members are taking the precautionary measures that they need for themselves and their families,” Singh said.

In other news, Singh said the Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore temporary pier is currently in Israel’s Port of Ashdod because of poor sea conditions off the coast of Gaza. “We’re still assessing when it can be re-anchored,” Singh said. “When sea states calm a bit, [we] will provide an update.”

The World Food Program and other groups are getting aid out of the marshaling yards to Palestinians. “In terms of the distribution, you did see that some distribution did start [to] back up over the weekend,” Singh said. “It is going to take a few days to move that aid out of the marshaling area that had built up over time.” 

None of the Prophets sent by Allah to spread monotheism were able to establish an ongoing monotheistic community prior to the descendants of Prophet Abraham. The Prophet that tried the hardest and the longest was Prophet Noah. God had warned Prophet Noah that almost all of his efforts would not be long-lasting: “And it was revealed to Noah that, “No one will believe from your people except those who have already believed, so do not be distressed by what they have been doing.” (Qur’an 11:36)

Prophet Noah was fortunate that unlike many others of Allah’s Prophets; he was not killed by the polytheist idol worshippers. “As he was building the ark, whenever some of his people passed by him, they ridiculed him. He replied, “If you ridicule us, we will ridicule you, just as you ridicule.” (Qur’an 11:38)

Allah said “Build the Ark, under Our eyes, and with Our inspiration, and do not address Me regarding those (polytheist idol-worshipers) who did wrong; they are to be drowned.” (Qur’an 11:37)

The leaders of the tribes and nations said, “Do not give up your gods; do not give up Wadd, nor Souwa, nor Yaghoos, and Yaooq, and Nassr. They have misled many, so do not increase the wrongdoers except in confusion. Because of their wrongs, they were drowned, and were hurled into an oven. They did not find any helpers apart from God. Noah said, “My Lord, do not leave of the unbelievers a single dweller on earth. If You leave them, they will mislead your servants, and breed only (more) wicked unbelievers.” (Qur’an 71:23-27)

The Qur’an’s Verse 7:25 refers to a tannur which is Arabic and Hebrew for a special portable oven or fire-pot shaped like a mountain top or volcano and used as part of a covenantal ceremony between God and Prophet Abraham:

“When the sun set and darkness fell, a smoking fire-pot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the (animal offering) pieces.On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates” (Genesis 15:17-18)

The tannur could also be a symbol for hell-fire for the evil people of Prophet Noah’s generation. As Noah said, “My Lord, do not leave of the unbelievers a single dweller on earth. If You leave them, they will mislead your servants, and will breed only (more) wicked unbelievers. (Qur’an 71:26-27)

In the Qur’an, Noah has a fourth recalcitrant son who refuses to come on board. If there’s to be a flood, he says, he will go up a high hill and wait it out. Noah makes one plaintive plea to God on his son’s behalf, but God is unmoved: Noah’s family is now to be those who worship the one God. Noah’s son must die with the other unbelievers in God’s punishing flood.

In the Bible, Noah has three sons, and all make it on board the ark. After the floodwaters recede, God makes a covenant with Prophet Noah promising to never again destroy all the Earth’s creatures; making the rainbow as a sign of that covenant promise.

I do not know why the Qur’an does not mention the Rainbow covenant promise; but I do pray that the optimistic Rainbow covenant promise of the Hebrew Bible also applies to global warming.

Researchers at Tel Aviv University tracked free-ranging Egyptian fruit bats from a colony based in the TAU’s I. Meier Segals Garden for Zoological Research to answer a long-standing scientific questions: Do animals have high and complex cognitive abilities, previously attributed only to humans? In particular, the study focused on the traits of episodic memory, mental time travel, planning ahead, and delayed gratification, arriving at highly thought-provoking conclusions.

The study was led by Prof. Yossi Yovel and Dr. Lee Harten from the School of Zoology and Sagol School of Neuroscience at Tel Aviv University. Other researchers included: Xing Chen, Adi Rachum, Michal Handel, and Aya Goldstein from the School of Zoology, Lior de Marcas from the Sagol School of Neuroscience, and Maya Fenigstein Levi and Shira Rosencwaig from the National Public Health Laboratory of Israel’s Ministry of Health. The paper was published in Current Biology.

Prof. Yovel: “For many years the cognitive abilities to recall personal experiences (episodic memory) and plan ahead were considered exclusive to humans. But more and more studies have suggested that various animals also possess such capabilities, but nearly all of these studies were conducted under laboratory conditions, since field studies on these issues are difficult to perform. Attempting to test these abilities in wild animals, we designed a unique experiment relying on the colony of free-ranging fruit bats based in TAU’s I. Meier Segals Garden for Zoological Research.”

The researchers assumed that bats depending on fruit trees for their survival would need to develop an ability to track the availability of food both spatially (where are the fruit trees?) and over time (when does each tree give fruit?). Navigating through landscapes with numerous fruit and nectar trees, they would need to mentally track the resources in order to revisit them at the appropriate time. To test this hypothesis, a tiny high-resolution GPS tracker was attached to each bat, enabling the documentation of flight routes and trees visited for many months. The vast data collected in this way were thoroughly analyzed, producing some amazing results.

The first research question was: Do bats form a time map in their minds? To explore this issue, the researchers prevented the bats from leaving the colony for varying periods of time, from one day to a week. Dr. Harten: “We wanted to see whether the bats could tell that time had elapsed and behave accordingly. We found that after one day of captivity, the bats would return to trees visited on the previous night. However, when a whole week had gone by, the older bats, based on past experience, avoided trees that had stopped bearing fruit in the interval. In other words: they were able to estimate how much time had passed since their last visit to each tree, and knew which trees bore fruit for a short time and were no longer worth visiting. Young, inexperienced bats were unable to do this, indicating that this is an acquired skill that must be learned.”

While the first research question looked at past experiences, the second dealt with the future: Do the bats exhibit future-oriented behaviors? Are they capable of planning ahead? To address this issue the researchers observed each bat’s route to the first tree of the evening, possibly indicative of plans made before leaving the colony. Chen Xing: “We found that usually the bats fly directly to a specific tree they know, sometimes 20 or 30 minutes away. Being hungry, they fly faster when that tree is further away, suggesting that they plan where they are heading. Moreover, focused on their chosen target, they will pass by other trees, even good sources visited just yesterday – indicating a capacity for delayed gratification. We also found that the first bats to leave the colony choose trees bearing fruits rich in sugar, while the bats that leave later seek proteins.” All these findings suggest that the bats plan their foraging before they leave the colony, and know exactly where they are flying and what kind of nourishment they are looking for.

Prof. Yovel: “The cognitive gap between humans and animals is one of the most fascinating issues in science. Our study demonstrates that fruit bats are capable of quite a complex decision-making process involving the three questions indicative of cognitive abilities: Where? (each tree’s location); When? (when the tree bears fruit); and What? (the nourishment it provides – sugar vs. proteins). Once again we find that the gap is not cleat-cut, and that humans are not as unique as some might think. Apparently, humans and animals are all located on a spectrum, with almost any human ability found in animals as well.”

New research by University of Texas at Dallas geoscientist Dr. Robert Stern and a colleague suggests a geological explanation for why conclusive evidence for advanced extraterrestrial (ET) civilizations has not been found, even though the Drake equation predicts that there should be many such civilizations in our galaxy capable of communicating with us.

In a study published online in Nature’s Scientific Reports, Stern and Dr. Taras Gerya, a professor of Earth sciences at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, propose that the presence of oceans and continents, as well as long-term plate tectonics, on life-bearing planets is essential for the evolution of active, communicative civilizations (ACCs).

The researchers conclude that the probable scarcity of these three requirements on exoplanets would significantly decrease the expected number of such ET civilizations in the galaxy.

“Life has been around on Earth for about 4 billion years, but complex organisms like animals didn’t appear until about 600 million years ago, which is not long after the modern episode of plate tectonics began,” said Stern, a professor of sustainable Earth systems sciences in the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. “Plate tectonics really jump-starts the evolution machine, and we think we understand why.”

Where Is Everyone?

In 1961 astronomer Dr. Frank Drake devised an equation in which several factors are multiplied together to estimate the number of intelligent civilizations in our galaxy capable of making their presence known to humans:

N = R*xf_pxn_exf_lxf_ixf_cxL

N:The number of civilizations in the Milky Way galaxy whose electromagnetic emissions (radio waves, etc.) are detectable.

R*:The number of stars formed annually.

f_p: The fraction of those stars with planetary systems.

n_e: The number of planets per solar system with an environment suitable for life.

f_l: The fraction of suitable planets on which life actually appears.

f_i: The fraction of life-bearing planets on which intelligent life emerges.

f_c: The fraction of civilizations that develop a technology that produces detectable signs of their existence.

L: The average length of time (years) such civilizations produce such signs.

Assigning values to the seven variables has been an educated guessing game, leading to predictions that such civilizations should be widespread. But if that is true, why is there no conclusive evidence of their existence?

This contradiction is known as the Fermi paradox, named for nuclear physicist and Nobelist Dr. Enrico Fermi, who informally posed the question to colleagues.

In their study, Stern and Gerya propose refining one of the Drake equation factors — f_i, the fraction of life-bearing planets on which intelligent life emerges — to take into account the necessity of large oceans and continents and the existence of plate tectonics for more than 500 million years on those planets.

“In the original formulation, this factor was thought to be nearly 1, or 100% — that is, evolution on all planets with life would march forward and, with enough time, turn into an intelligent civilization,” Stern said. “Our perspective is: That’s not true.”

Impact of Plate Tectonics

Plate tectonics is a theory formulated in the late 1960s that states the Earth’s crust and upper mantle are broken into moving pieces, or plates, that very slowly move — about as fast as fingernails and hair grow.

In our solar system, only one of the four rocky bodies with surface deformation and volcanic activity — Earth — has plate tectonics. Three others — Venus, Mars and Jupiter’s moon Io — are actively deforming and have young volcanoes, but they lack plate tectonics, Stern said. Two other rocky bodies — Mercury and the moon — lack such activity and are tectonically dead.

“It is much more common for planets to have an outer solid shell that is not fragmented, which is known as single-lid tectonics,” Stern said. “But plate tectonics is much more effective than single-lid tectonics for driving the emergence of advanced life-forms.”

As tectonic plates move, they crash into or move apart from one another, forming geological structures such as mountains, volcanoes and oceans, which also allow moderate weather and climate patterns to develop. Through weathering, nutrients are released into oceans. By creating and destroying habitats, plate tectonics puts moderate but incessant environmental stress on species to evolve and adapt.

Stern and Gerya also evaluated the importance of the long-lasting presence of large land masses and oceans for evolution leading to an active, communications-capable species.

“Both continents and oceans are required for ACCs because evolution of simple to complex multicellular life must happen in water, but further evolution leading to wondering about the night sky, harnessing fire and using metals to create new technologies, and finally to the emergence of ACCs capable of sending radio waves and rocket ships into space, must happen on land,” Stern said.

Refining the Drake Equation

The research team proposed a revision to the Drake equation that defines f_ias the product of two terms: f_oc, the fraction of habitable exoplanets with significant continents and oceans, and f_pt, the fraction of planets that have had long-lasting plate tectonics.

Based on their analysis, Stern said the fraction of the exoplanets with optimal water volume is likely very small. They estimate the value of f_ocranges between 0.0002 and 0.01. Similarly, the team concluded that plate tectonics lasting more than 500 million years is also highly unusual, leading to an estimate of f_ptat less than 0.17.

“When we multiply these factors together, we get a refined estimate of f_ithat is very small, between 0.003% and 0.2%, instead of 100%,” Stern said. “This explains the extreme rareness of favorable planetary conditions for the development of intelligent life in our galaxy and resolves the Fermi paradox.”

According to NASA, more than 5,000 exoplanets have been confirmed in the Milky Way from ground-based observations and orbiting platforms such as the Kepler and James Webb space telescopes. While scientists, including UT Dallas planet hunter Dr. Kaloyan Penev, assistant professor of physics, have gotten better at finding planets around other stars and estimating the number that are rocky, they don’t yet have the capability to detect plate tectonics on exoplanets.

“Biogeochemistry posits that the solid Earth, particularly plate tectonics, speeds up the evolution of species,” Stern said. “Studies like ours are useful because they stimulate thinking broadly about larger mysteries and provide an example of how we can apply our knowledge of Earth systems to interesting questions about our universe.”

The research was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation.

Politicians around the world are increasingly mobilizing anti-immigrant sentiment to garner support and votes—a trend that is especially evident as the US presidential election approaches.

While political rhetoric that stereotypes and scapegoats immigrants is well-documented, less attention has been given to the impact of these sentiments on immigrants themselves. In an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and in a recently published book, Migration Stigma (MIT Press), scholars identify “migration stigma” as a pervasive and destructive force that links responses to immigration—such as prejudice and politics—to the health of immigrants.

“This concept of ‘migration stigma’ for the first time pulls together phenomena like the politicization of immigration and goes beyond how the native born think of immigrants to consider how it influences physical and mental health,” said Lawrence Yang, professor and chair of the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at NYU School of Global Public Health, first author of the JAMA article, and lead editor of Migration Stigma.

The human cost

In theJAMAarticle, the authors write that being labeled as a migrant can set off a cascade of negative consequences: stereotyping, separation or “othering,” discrimination, and loss of social status. In the context of power dynamics, these factors together result in stigma.

Stigma can take different forms, but all risk harming the health and mental health of immigrants. One form, structural stigma, occurs when groups are treated differently by laws or policies based on their status. For immigrants, this may mean worse access to education, housing, health care, and jobs—all of which are powerful social determinants of health, or social and structural factors that influence health outcomes.

Other forms of stigma may be less obvious. For instance, immigrants and their descendants who are attuned to the negative political environment and stereotypes people hold about immigrants may feel shame and internalize these negative beliefs.

Internalized stigma can increase stress, which may lead to a host of mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders, and can even exacerbate post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among migrants who endured traumatic journeys across borders. Moreover, internalized stigma—coupled with the fear of deportation—may deter immigrants from seeking medical attention and other services that ultimately improve their health and life opportunities, including jobs and education.

“New immigrants who are aware that the US is not the most hospitable place right now may respond to this negative environment by inadvertently avoiding opportunities to maintain their health,” said Yang, who is also the founding director of the Global Mental Health and Stigma Program at the NYU School of Global Public Health.

Addressing migration stigma

“A new focus on the intersection of migration and stigma creates an opportunity to break the cycle of harmful policies and rhetoric that fuel stigma and hurt the health of immigrants and others,” Yang said. And because stigma involves many factors—labeling, stereotyping, “othering,” and loss of status—interventions to reduce stigma can work to address any of these linkages.

“For instance, we can introduce new narratives to change a label or address stereotyping, or can encourage policymakers to enact anti-discrimination laws to preserve access to health care and education,” added Yang.

The authors also write inJAMAthat to avoid stigmatizing migrant patients, health professionals can recognize that health and illness stem from social, political, and economic structures.

A new field of research

The concept of migration stigma grew out of an international forum, convened by the Ernst Stüngmann Foundation, that brought together scholars in the fields of stigma and migration to explore connections between the two.

“Although both fields examine the causes and consequences of prejudice and discrimination, until recently there was little formal collaboration between stigma and migration scholars,” said Yang.

Through this process, the scholars coined the concept of migration stigma and launched this new field of research. Future areas of study include the impact of the migrant label on different life domains, whether the label extends beyond migrants themselves to other generations or associated racial or ethnic groups, and whether stigma has long-term health consequences.

“By examining how the seemingly disparate phenomena of anti-immigrant politics and individuals’ health are related, we enhance the possibilities for researchers and clinicians to understand, and ideally, intervene to promote public health,” the authors write inJAMA.

TheJAMAarticle was co-authored by Bruce Link of UC Riverside and the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health and Maureen Eger of Umeå University and the Center for Right-Wing Studies at UC Berkeley. Eger and Link are also the co-editors of the book.