'Can you grow potatoes on Mars?’: Brian Cox and Robin Ince answer your questions
When I arrive at a large country house in Cheshire to meet Brian Cox and Robin Ince, I am directed to the library, a large chilly room notable for containing not a single book. The rows of heaving bookshelves behind Cox’s overstuffed chair turn out, on closer inspection, to be wallpaper.
Professor Cox, advanced fellow of particle physics at the University of Manchester and former D:Ream keyboardist, spent the previous evening presenting Stargazing Live with Dara O Briain, and will shortly depart for a script meeting.
Comedian and writer Ince will later rendezvous with Cox at the giant Lovell telescope at Jodrell Bank, Macclesfield, in order to pose for photographs to promote the latest series – the 13th – of their popular comedy-science radio programme The Infinite Monkey Cage.
In the meantime, Cox and Ince have agreed to answer as many questions from Guardian readers as possible, and they both approach the task with such focus and engagement that, for a while, I’m worried we’re going to spend all morning tackling question 1, which is:
What existed before the big bang? (Ross Quinn)
Brian Cox: We don’t know, but we have a very strong theory at the moment called inflation, which is that space time existed before the big bang, but it was doing something else: expanding extremely rapidly. We have strong evidence from things such as
the cosmic microwave background radiation, the oldest light in the universe, to suggest that there was something going on before – this very rapid expansion – and that’s, broadly speaking, textbook now. It’s the best model we have at the moment.
It’s your responsibility to select one person to send forward a representative of the human race to an intelligent alien civilisation. Who would you choose and why? (Scott)
BC: I would have chosen Carl Sagan, but I can’t now.
Robin Ince: Just from our experience of working with him, someone that I think has a wonderful way of explaining ideas, and also has the correct temperament to meet possible alien cultures, is [Canadian astronaut] Chris Hadfield. If you’re not excited about meeting an astronaut, something inside you has died and you must reinvigorate it. The ability to look back on your own planet and see the whole planet is incredible and the way he has of expressing both the science and the poetry of experiencing that, would make him a pretty good person for meeting aliens.
In the film The Martian, Matt Damon grows potatoes on Mars. Is this possible as it is portrayed in the film and, more importantly, would they make good chips? (Jefferson Bonar)
BC: I can give a serious answer, which is that on the space station, they have a box that they put outside it, where they take different organisms, bacteria and things, and expose them to space to see what happens. And they survive, generally. So it is the case that living things, particularly single-celled things, can survive even space travel. Mars is hostile, because of the radiation levels at the surface, but actually it’s got a bit of an atmosphere, so it’s not as hostile as many other places … so, probably yes.
Which episode of The Infinite Monkey Cage surprised you the most? Or was the most memorable? (Samantha Wallace)
RI: My favourites were the general-relativity specials, which were quite recent. When you sit opposite someone like [cosmologist] Carlos Frenk … when he starts to communicate his excitement, and the beauty of the understanding he has got of the theory of general relativity, it’s tremendously contagious.
BC: The other one that springs to mind was when we had Monica Grady and Carolyn Porco, both planetary exploration scientists, on the show. Carolyn ran the imaging team on the Cassini mssion. She believes Enceladus [a moon of Saturn] is one of the most interesting places in the solar system. This is a place where there might be life. Monica is interested in Mars exploration and also Jupiter. So there’s a big debate about where we go next. Do we go back to Saturn? Do we go to Jupiter, to Mars? And they flat-out disagreed with each other. Absolutely, 100% took opposite sides.
RI: It’s the first time in any show that I’ve had to go: “Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa!” The fury …
Suppose you find out that in, say, 10 minutes, all our scientific knowledge will be lost. All of our books gone, our data lost, the internet destroyed and our memories wiped. You have just enough time to write down and preserve one piece of information. What would that one piece of information be? (Eric)
BC: Richard Feynman, in the Feynman lectures, writes: “Everything is made of atoms,” because you can follow things from there. You need to choose something that gives you a hint of the method itself. I’d say the one thing I would write down is: “You’re never right.” Build theories, have ideas about nature, go and test them. If the results disagree with nature, then you are wrong.
RI: I’m caught between quickly jotting down an effective sewage system – once you’ve got that, it makes thinking a lot easier – or the theory of evolution by natural selection … if you could quickly jot down the tree of life, that also has …
BC: But see, as [zoology professor] Matt Cobb would say: ‘It’s not a tree’.
RI: The tree would be the starting point. We’ve only got 10 minutes!
What do you think of the idea of single-sex labs? How should the gender imbalance in the sciences be redressed? (Leah)
BC: Well single-sex labs is probably not the best way to address gender imbalance, is it? It depends which science you’re talking about. Because it’s important to say there isn’t a gender imbalance in biosciences. There might be a historical imbalance, if you look at the number of professors at the end of their careers, but if you look at bioscientists coming up now, through PhDs, post-docs and things, then there isn’t one. There is in physics. You’ve got to make the distinction. It’s a complicated question.
RI: There’s still a battle, in that some people still seem to believe there’s some kind of gender divide in the idea of curiosity. Fortunately, that seems to be changing.
If you had £1bn to spend on science programmes around the world, which ones would you fund? (Tracy Liu)
BC: One billion?
RI: That’s not gonna get you very far, is it? Because you want to go into space, basically.
BC: No, I don’t.
RI: No, you’d be no good at it at all. But I would imagine your idea is investment to journey farther, outwards.
BC: Not necessarily. £1bn is not anywhere near enough, is the point. Some research has been done: it looks like 2.5% of GDP is about the right level of expenditure for a developed economy to spend on R&D. We spend about 1.8%. We’re woefully behind.
TD: But if it was limited and you had to prioritise? Let’s forget the idea that it has to be a billion.
BC: It has to be limited by the optimum level in order to make progress, to acquire knowledge to grow the economy to make everyone’s lives better. And we’re below that level. We’re making people’s lives worse by not investing enough in new knowledge.
RI: If I could just have money, just for a bit of fun, mine would be for a really brilliant submarine, because 80% of the oceans are still not properly charted, in terms of the depth of the sea. One, I just like the idea of having a submarine, and two, every time we find new forms of life in areas that we haven’t explored, it gives us a greater understanding of life beyond the planet as well.
Where would you most like humanity to explore in our solar system (via probe or person) within your lifetime? I’d love to see the sun in a bit more detail (solar physicist by trade), but we all know how that might turn out … (Chris)
BC: We know how it would turn out.
RI: We’re not gonna see the first man landing on the sun, are we?
BC: I think the central question of the exploration of the solar system is life. Is there life beyond Earth? Mars and some of the moons around Jupiter and Saturn are fascinating because they look like likely candidates, but Mars is by far the easiest to get to. So it must be Mars.
If the Force transfers power to a Jedi in an analogous way to that in which a magnetic field wirelessly transfers power in resonant inductive coupling, what’s the greatest feat a Jedi could perform before he caught fire? (Dean Rutland)
RI: I think he’d be able to make a small spindle rotate, and that would be the best he could do.
BC: They haven’t got a very good record, the Jedi, have they?
RI: No. To be honest, it’s been dragging on now for seven episodes and still we haven’t found peace in that particular universe.
BC: It’s in a right mess.
RI: I’m worried that ultimately the Jedi system is based on dogma.
Have you ever played the National Lottery? (Rupert Stubbs)
RI: No.
BC: No.
RI: I once received a card with a ticket in; you know, as a gift, but I’ve never …
BC: Well, if you don’t open it, there’s always a chance that you’re a millionaire. Just don’t look at it. You could go to the bank, couldn’t you, and say I need a big loan, cos I’m in a linear superposition of being very rich.
Why do people still believe that female and male brains are different? (Neurogeek)
BC: You can see a problem in the question. The point is that science is not going to give you absolute answers. So when you begin a question saying: “Why do some people believe …” Science is what it is, ’cos it’s the study of nature, and nature is what it is. So there’s no room, actually, for belief, and science is not about proving beliefs true or false. It’s just about finding stuff out about the natural world. I don’t know of a good question that begins: “Do you believe…” I don’t believe anything. I don’t like the word.
RI: Also, the trouble with certain points in neuroscience is that before it’s actually got to the point of being understood, it may well be leapt on politically: “Oh good, we’ve found out there’s a difference between this person’s brain and that person’s brain, therefore that’s how we should educate this person and that’s how we should educate that person.”
BC: It’s that old politician’s refrain: you scientists keep changing your minds!
If time travel does exist why haven’t we met a real Doctor Who yet? (Brian Turner)
RI: That’s the trouble isn’t it? Cos of you bloody physicists. We can only move forward in time, can’t we?
BC: As far as we know, you can’t travel into the past. That’s why we haven’t met Doctor Who.
If you could be any character on any sci-fi show, which one would you be, and why? (Harpreet)
BC: I wouldn’t be John Hurt in Alien.
RI: I would go with Space 1999. You’ve got the costume already.
BC: I have got the costume. I had one made. For my wedding anniversary. Doesn’t everyone do that?
Is there any reason why the human brain should understand the whole universe? (Panoptic)
BC: Nope.
RI: I think the mere fact that the human brain can hold as many ideas as it can is already startling enough.
Do you think that popular science is going through a bit of a golden age? (Tim Pilgrim)
RI: Yes, we are in a very good time. Things such as the Large Hadron Collider genuinely excite people … But it’s up to us, and the mass media and scientists, to go: “Right, I believe people will be interested if we present them with the ideas.” If people see a beautifully presented show about entropy, they’ll be pretty fucking excited about the heat-death of the universe. That’s the way I see it, anyway.
Dear Robin: where do you buy your jumpers? (Alasdair S Goudie)
RI: In The Fly there’s a bit where Jeff Goldblum talks about Einstein, saying he always wore exactly the same clothes every single day, so he didn’t have to make any decisions. I have seven cardigans and they’re all from Next, and they’re all exactly the same. The annoying thing is, Einstein used that extra time to come up with grand ideas, and I haven’t. Just cutting down your cardigan choices doesn’t mean you’ll win a Nobel prize.
The Infinite Monkey Cage, now in its 13th series, airs on Mondays, 4.30pm, BBC Radio 4
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'Can you grow potatoes on Mars?’: Brian Cox and Robin Ince answer your questions
Cupboard clearout: packed lunch ideas using food you've forgotten about
Whether it’s because you’re moving house or because you can’t open your cupboard doors without fear of a jar of black bean paste falling on your head, from time to time it feels good to go through your supplies and use stuff up. From the unappealing multicoloured pasta you picked up in Rome circa 1999, to that jar of green chilli peppers that are beginning to fade faster than your carpets, it’s time to put some of the stuff you have amassed over the years to work.
• It might seem lavish, but home-curing fresh salmon is easy and surprisingly economical as a little goes a long way. What’s more, doing your own curing will use up that salt you bought on Île de Ré. Mix 1 part salt with 1½ parts sugar and rub liberally on your salmon. Sprinkle over some aromatics – black pepper, fennel seeds – and a splash of booze, such as gin. Pop in a sealable bag and put in the fridge, weighted down under something heavy, such as a casserole lid, for 2 days, turning regularly. Thinly slice and enjoy in a little gem salad with pumpkin seeds and a mustard dressing, or in rye-bread sandwiches with pickles and sliced boiled egg for a Scandi touch.
• At the Subway counter it can be easy to go wild for jaunty additions: a rogue olive here, a little jalepeno there … even wretched sweetcorn gets a look-in. So why not do the same at home? Add spice to your sarnies, and use up jars of green chillis, by chopping them up and throwing them into baguettes with chicken, grated carrot, romaine lettuce and mayo, or with cooked halloumi, shredded iceberg and cherry tomatoes. Or chop them very finely with a handful of fresh herbs such as parsley, mint or coriander. Add a glug of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, some grated zest, and a little garlic mashed into a paste with salt to make a salsa verde. Also good drizzled over salads or swirled into soups.
• Now that everyone is making preserves, chances are that your shelves are groaning with jars of homemade chutneys. Time to expand their remit beyond the cheese course: spoon into baked potatoes, have an odds-and-ends ploughman’s with leftover bits of meat, the odd crudite and some oatcakes, or use in bacon sarnies.
• A pizza and puff pastry tart hybrid – a puff pizza? a pizzart? a puzza? – is just the thing to use up that jar of crinkle-cut beetroot, sliced into rounds atop soft goat’s cheese on ready-rolled puff pastry. Top with fresh mint, salt and black pepper after 20 minutes in the oven.
• The most irritating cupboard lurkers are those packets of rice, couscous, pasta et al with not enough left in them to make a meal. A kitchari of sorts is the answer. How you cook this will depend on what you want to use up. In a suacepan, fry a sliced onion in olive oil then add a pinch of cinnamon and allspice. Add rinsed rice, couscous or bulgur, boiling water to cover (refer to packet instructions) and cook with the lid on until done. In a separate pan, boil any leftover pasta (little shapes are best, or spaghetti strands, snapped into bits) until cooked. Stir through the cooked onion-rice mix. Tinned chickpeas are a good addition and free up another few centimetres of precious cupboard real estate. Eat topped with chopped parsley and garlicky Greek yoghurt (mash garlic with salt and stir through yoghurt with a squeeze of lemon) plus a squeeze of chilli sauce.
- Caroline Craig and Sophie Missing are authors of The Little Book of Lunch (Square Peg)
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Cupboard clearout: packed lunch ideas using food you've forgotten about
Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo: the challengers leading China’s charge against Apple
The idea that one of America’s most talismanic businesses – and the world’s biggest company by market value – might one day come to rely on China for its growth would have seemed strange just a decade ago. But for iPhone maker Apple, what happens on the other side of the world is suddenly crucial to its future.
Speaking to analysts last week as the company released its fourth-quarter earnings, chief executive Tim Cook couldn’t assuage concerns. While proclaiming the “best results ever” in greater China, with revenues up 14% to more than $18bn, he also admitted that “we began to see some signs of economic softness [there] earlier this month, most notably in Hong Kong.” The shares, already down from $130 last May to $100, clattered down another few dollars.
Cook emphasised that he remained “confident about the long-term potential of the China market”. There again, on previous occasions Cook has been equally confident about the long-term future of the iPad – and its sales have now fallen for eight quarters in row.
Now Apple faces three key challenges in the Chinese market, the world’s largest for smartphones: the economic headwinds and falling share prices cutting into consumer spending and confidence; the saturated market; and the intensifying competition from far cheaper homegrown rivals.
China’s phone market, which accounted for a third of all smartphone sales worldwide in 2015, is already slowing as the number of first-time phone buyers declines and people delay replacement purchases. A year ago, phones were being replaced on average after just 13 months; now that period is lengthening. According to Woody Oh, an analyst at research group Strategy Analytics, total Chinese smartphone sales in October-December actually fell by 4%, to 118m; Apple sold 15.5m phones there, up from 13.5m a year before, while its worldwide sales remained flat at 74.4m.
But that was only enough to make Apple the third-biggest supplier behind local firms Huawei (pronounced “Hoo-wah-way”) and Xiaomi (“she-yow-mee”), which each sold nearly 18m units. And just behind Apple were two more local rivals, Vivo and Oppo.
All of the rivals offer much cheaper products, running Android software (without Google’s services inside China; with them outside) and they have seen scorching growth in 2015.
Huawei principally builds telecoms network equipment, but has been solidly expanding its handset business. Almost half of the 108m it turned out in 2015 were exported. Xiaomi had aimed for 100m in total, but slow first-half sales cut that to 70m for the year, of which 90% were sold in China. Oppo, meanwhile, has grown by 67% in the year, shifting 50m units worldwide.
The absence of Samsung, the world’s most prolific smartphone maker, from China’s top five may seem surprising. But it has been hurt more than Apple by low-cost rivals in the past two years; Xiaomi pushed it from the top spot in 2014, and the local competition has eaten away at its sales.
Now, though, those rivals are trying to take a bigger bite out of Apple. But they are coming up against the power of its brand – which, so far, remains highly aspirational in China.
Unlike phone makers using Google’s Android, Apple – which writes its own iOS software – remains able to command premium pricing, and more.
The dollar’s strength means that in China an entry-level iPhone 6S that in the US costs $649 is priced at the equivalent of $833. And this in a country where the mean income is 56,339 yuan – about £6,000 or $8,500. The cheapest iPhone thus costs more than a month’s wages; in the west, that used to be the measure of how much to spend on a diamond engagement ring.
Yet it is a price people have been willing to pay, specifically because it is expensive. The FT’s Jonathan Margolis recalled last week how “when I used a nice Android [phone] in the company of a friend in Shanghai, she advised me that I looked ‘like a poor man from the country’.” For urban dwellers, having an iPhone, or a phone easily mistaken for an iPhone, is still a status symbol.
In addition, Apple has better distribution than smaller rivals through deals with China Mobile, the world’s largest telecoms player, and the two other networks. “Apple has worked hard to extend its retailer coverage across China, while Apple Music and other localised services have refreshed the iOS ecosystem for Chinese consumers,” notes Oh.
Neil Shah at Counterpoint Research, another analysis firm, says that Xiaomi has had great success attracting first-time customers in the under-$150 segment, where it competes with local rivals such as Lenovo. But at the upgrade stage it loses customers, who shift to Huawei, Oppo – and Apple. “Almost half of the iPhones that we sold in China last quarter were to people who were buying their first iPhone,” Cook told analysts – suggesting about 7m successes in getting people to lay out money.
However that willingness to buy Apple’s product will be sorely tested this year as China’s economy struggles.
Cook’s revenue guidance already implies a fall in sales against the year before. Having pushed Samsung aside, local rivals will be looking to complete a clean sweep of the bestselling phones this time next year.
FAST-CHANGING FORTUNES
RISING STARS
Huawei A Chinese company that also makes telecoms networking equipment, it sold 108m smartphones in 2015. Best known for its founder’s links to the Red Army – which has meant its network gear has been banned from the US over spying suspicions. In the UK, however, BT uses Huawei equipment extensively.
ZTE Like Huawei, a Chinese company that also makes network equipment, but for which handsets are increasingly important: it grew 36% in 2015, to more than 60m handsets, aiming for the low-end market. But it doesn’t publish financial data, so profit or loss is unknown.
Lava Indigenous to India, Lava is one of the fastest-growing companies in the newest fast-growth market, now that China has slowed to a crawl. Like all its rivals, it uses Google’s Android, but unusually has Intel chips powering the phones. This year it aims to expand into Mexico.
Oppo The Chinese smartphone brand shipped 50m handsets in 2015, up 67%, to rank among the world’s top 10. It competes with Xiaomi on price, but has had more success abroad in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Australia.
FALLING STARS
HTC The Taiwanese company made the first Android phone, and was once the US’s largest Android supplier. But it shrank 17% in 2015 and has made losses for three quarters in a row. With no services business, it is being crushed by the competition.
Lenovo/Motorola Lenovo is the world’s biggest PC maker, and bought American mobile-phone pioneer Motorola in 2014, but has been unable to bring it to profit. It is also losing out in the fiercely competitive Chinese market to Huawei and Xiaomi, seeing sales fall and losses mount.
Microsoft/Nokia Microsoft bought the rump of Nokia’s phone business in September 2013, but has seen sales droop and been unable to find profitability. Sales shrank nearly 30% in 2015, according to Counterpoint.
Sony Though it makes camera sensors for everyone including Apple and Samsung, Sony’s phone business has lost more than $1bn in the past two years, and sales peaked in 2014. Management has wondered about a sale, even while scaling down to cut losses.
LG Korean rival to Samsung in almost every consumer electronics business, its premium phones are well-regarded by critics yet have sold poorly, leaving sales flat and profits elusive.
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Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo: the challengers leading China’s charge against Apple
TV Derana LIVE Streaming 24X7 - Free
Watch TV Derana LIVE 24×7 from youtube. You can watch free and live from mobile, Tablet, Laptop, PC and Smart TV.
TV Derana LIVE Streaming 24X7 – Free
TV Derana is a Sinhalese language free-to-air entertainment television channel broadcasting in Sri Lanka. Launched on 11 October 2005, it is one of the most popular free-to air networks in the country. Its main transmission tower is located in Colombo, and coverage is extended nationwide via substations in Nuwara Eliya, Deniyaya, Gammaduwa, Kandy, and Kalutara.
TV Derana LIVE Streaming 24X7 – Free
TV Derana LIVE Streaming 24X7 - Free
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe reply to the media 29th Jan'2016
On 26th January 206 prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe replay to the media related about his previous speech at Sri Lanka Parliament.
Watch the previous Speech Click Here.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe
reply to the media 29th Jan’2016
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe reply to the media 29th Jan'2016
DD News LIVE streaming 24X7 - Free
Watch DD News LIVE 24×7 from youtube. You can watch free and live from mobile, Tablet, Laptop, PC and Smart TV.
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DD News LIVE streaming 24X7 – Free
Doordarshan News, usually referred to by its abbreviation as DD News, is India’s only 24-hour terrestrial TV news channel. The Prasar Bharati company board approved the proposal to start a 24-hour news channel in place of DD Metro, which was closing. This was subsequently approved by the Union Cabinet in an 3 October 2003 meeting.
DD Metro was converted into a 24-hour TV news channel, into DD News, which launched on 3 November 2003. Its terrestrial reach is 21.6% by area and 44.9% by population of India.
The DD News App for mobile (iOS & Android) was launched recently on 7th May, 2015 by the I&B Minister of India Shri Arun Jaitly which aims to instantly communicate news on a 24×7 basis.
DD News LIVE streaming 24X7 – Free
DD News LIVE streaming 24X7 - Free
TV9 (Telugu) LIVE streaming 24X7 - Free
Watch TV9 (Telugu) LIVE 24×7 from youtube. You can watch free and live from mobile, Tablet, Laptop, PC and Smart TV.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7rMts6zxaY
TV9 (Telugu) LIVE streaming 24X7 – Free
TV9(టీవీ9) is an Indian Cable and Satellite Television news network that is owned by Associated Broadcasting Company Private Limited (ABCL).TV9 News channel was founded in 2004 by Ravi Prakash. Upon its launch TV9 was the first television channel to provide 24-hour news coverage in Telugu Language in India.TV9 became popular with the Telugu audience for its bold and unbiased presentation of news to the people.Its tagline (For a Better Society)is an instant connect with the people. It has over 50 million viewers all over India.
TV9 (Telugu) LIVE streaming 24X7 – Free
TV9 (Telugu) LIVE streaming 24X7 - Free
France hit by day of protest as workers take to the streets
Police have fired teargas at striking French taxi drivers who tried to march down a major Paris bypass on a day of protests against non-traditional car services such as Uber.
Hundreds of taxi drivers stationed themselves on airport routes and a major intersection into western Paris. Riot police used teargas to push back dozens of drivers who attempted to block the road near Porte Maillot; some drivers set fire to tyres.
The drivers are protesting against what they consider to be unfair competition from Uber and other non-licensed private hire cabs, and are seeking compensation. “Economic terrorism!” read one banner at the Porte Maillot protest. Police said they had made 20 arrests.
Drivers were expected to gather in front of the finance ministry later on Tuesday, while the Toulouse tramway was also expected to be targeted.
Thierry Guichard, a spokesman for the Taxis de France collective, said the government had failed to act to protect taxi drivers and “ensure respect for the regulations”.
Meanwhile, France was braced for a wider day of disruption as other workers, including air traffic controllers, staged parallel strike action. Their unions said they wanted be exempted from proposed changes to how salaries are calculated, which they say would hurt their purchasing power. The air traffic controllers were also protesting at what they said was the loss of 1,000 jobs in less than 10 years.
The French civil aviation authority on Monday called on airlines to cancel one in five flights as a preventive measure ahead of the strike.
Air France said it would operate all its long-haul flights and more than 80% of its short- and medium-haul flights in France and elsewhere in Europe, but that “last-minute delays or cancellations cannot be ruled out”.
Other workers taking industrial action and staging street marches included teachers, hospital workers and livestock farmers who want better prices for their produce.
Unions had called on France’s 5.6 million civil servants to stop work to protest against labour reforms proposed last September affecting pay and career advancement. Unions said a pay freeze has cost public sector workers a part of their spending power. The striking unions also denounced job losses of 150,000 since 2007 and said hospitals were especially hard hit.
Separately, primary school teachers and crèche workers were also striking for higher pay, with unions claiming about a third were expected to take part. Other teachers were protesting for a fourth time against middle-school reforms that come into force in September.
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France hit by day of protest as workers take to the streets
Amitabh Bachchan Message on #GiveItUp
Amitabh Bachchan appeals to puplic to give up LPG subsidy and be a part of #GiveItUp Movement.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADYWGEUWyZA
Amitabh Bachchan Message on #GiveItUp
Amitabh Bachchan Message on #GiveItUp
Genetically modified monkeys created to help scientists study autism
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Genetically modified (GM) monkeys that develop symptoms of autism have been created to help scientists discover treatments for the condition.
The macaques carry a genetic fault that causes a rare disorder in humans called MeCP2 duplication syndrome. This produces a wide range of medical conditions, some of which mirror those seen in autism, such as difficulties with social interactions.
Researchers say groups of the GM monkeys could be used to identify brain circuits involved in common autistic behaviours and to test new treatments designed to alleviate the symptoms.
Because the monkeys pass the genetic defects on to their offspring, scientists can breed large populations of the animals for medical research. A group of 200 monkeys has been established at the scientists’ lab in China.
The research, described in the journal Nature, paves the way for more varieties of GM monkeys that develop different mental and psychiatric problems which are almost impossible to study in other animals.
“The first cohort of transgenic monkeys shows very similar behaviour to human autism, including increased anxiety, but most importantly, defects in social interactions,” said Zilong Qiu who led the research at the Institute of Neuroscience in Shanghai.
“We are currently carrying out brain imaging studies and trying to identify the deficiency in brain circuits that is responsible for autism-like behaviour,” he added.
Qiu said that if his team can work out which networks of brain cells are involved in autism symptoms, they will start investigating treatments that correct their behaviour. Tests could range from electrical stimulation directly into the brain, which some Parkinson’s disease patients have administered, to magnetic stimulation through the skull, and ultimately gene therapy.
The use of monkeys in medical research is controversial, but Qiu said the animals were important for studying conditions that affect the human brain. Scientists already use mice to study autism, but the rodents have such small brains, they cannot be used to look at many of the more complex problems that affect humans.
Mu-ming Poo, director of the Institute of Neuroscience, said that while GM monkeys will not replace mice in research, they will overcome some of the shortcomings researchers face. Many attempts to study human brain disorders in mice fail because their brains are so different, he said.
Kevin Mitchell, a geneticist at Trinity College Dublin, said the modified macaques could have many advantages over mice. While mice are used because they are relatively easy to house, have large litters, and grow quickly, the animals are of limited use in trying to understand human diseases. “This is especially true for psychiatric disorders, as mice obviously do not have the rich, complex and sophisticated behaviours that humans display, and as many of the symptoms of psychiatric disorders affect high-level cognitive functions and faculties,” he said. The much slower development of human brains may in itself make people more vulnerable to brain disorders.
Anthony Chan, a researcher at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, who created GM monkeys with Huntington’s disease, said the latest study proved how advances in genetics were transforming medical research. “This particular MECP2 duplication model with progressive development of autism-like conditions will be a great resource for studying Autism Spectrum Disorders and the development of early interventions,” he said.
James Cusack, research director at Autistica, a charity that funds work on autism, said: “Developing sophisticated animal models of autism has always represented a significant challenge for scientists. This excellent research has developed a more sophisticated model of autism which may further our understanding of autism, and could eventually lead to the development of more tailored treatments.
“It should always be remembered that people with autism vary in a number of ways, and autism itself is linked to a number of other conditions. With this in mind, developing a single animal model of autism may be difficult to achieve.”
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Genetically modified monkeys created to help scientists study autism
Our Daily Bread- A Thought for the day 2016
Our Daily Bread-A Thought for the day
Our Daily Bread Daily Devotionals
- When Questions RemainPosted by David McCasland on January 26, 2016 at 12:00 AM
On October 31, 2014, an experimental spacecraft broke apart during a test flight and crashed into the Mojave Desert. The copilot died while the pilot miraculously survived. Investigators soon determined what had happened, but not why. The title of a newspaper article about the crash began with the words “Questions remain.”
Throughout life we may experience sorrows for which there are no adequate explanation. Some are catastrophic events with far-reaching effects while others are personal, private tragedies that alter our individual lives and families. We want to know why, but we seem to find more questions than answers. Yet even as we struggle with “Why?” God extends His unfailing love to us.
When Job lost his children and his wealth in a single day (Job 1:13-19), he sank into an angry depression and resisted any attempted explanations by his friends. Yet he held out hope that someday there would be an answer from God. Even in the darkness Job could say, “[God] knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold” (23:10).
Oswald Chambers said, “There will come one day a personal and direct touch from God when every tear and perplexity, every oppression and distress, every suffering and pain, and wrong and injustice will have a complete and ample and overwhelming explanation.”
Today, as we face life’s unanswered questions, we can find help and hope in God’s love and promises. […]
Our Daily Bread- A Thought for the day 2016
Our Daily Bread- A Thought for the day 2016
Australia Day: honours, citizenship, protests, sport, Hottest 100 – live!
Summary
I’m about to hand over our continuing coverage of Australia Day to my colleague Calla Wahlquist. Here’s a short summary of how the day is unfolding so far:
- Invasion Day protests are taking place across the nation to rally for Indigenous recognition, land rights and equal rights across a range of areas. Major rallies are taking place in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.
- Eminent women in engineering, philanthropy and sport are among those who have been recognised in the Australia Day honours. Former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick was admitted as an officer of the Order of Australia.
My colleague Nick Evershed has just published his hotly anticipated never ending Hottest 100 quiz.
This quiz is, as the name suggests, an infinite series of variations on possible questions about Hottest 100 countdowns from 1993 to 2014.
Here’s a short dispatch from Nick explaining how it works:
Which artist had a top 5 track in the 1993 Hottest 100 that started with the following lyrics: “All I can say is that my life is pretty plain”.
With the annual Triple J countdown on today, our data and interactives editor Nick Evershed has built a quiz that will test your music knowledge to the limits.
This quiz features randomised questions dynamically generated from Hottest 100 data between 1993 and 2014, so you can continue adding question after question.
Check it out here.
My colleague Calla Wahlquist has been on the ground in Melbourne at the Invasion Day parade. Here’s a short dispatch she’s written:
Faced with a wall of protesters, the police turned aside. Several hundred people were marching down Melbourne’s Bourke Street mall in the name of Invasion Day, and they had reached the barricades set up for the official Australia Day parade.
The march, which began at Parliament House in Spring Street, now stretched back almost two city blocks. The police line inched back, then stood aside. For the third time in twelve months a protest about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights stopped traffic on the Melbourne CBD.Crowds wearing Australian Flag tattoos remained on the barricades to watch the new parade go by, to the chant of: “Always was, always will be Aboriginal land.”
Flowers for a memorial were left on the steps of Parliament House and the chant turned to “no pride in genocide.” One marcher, who took part in previous Invasion Day marches, said the crowd was twice that of last year.Not everyone was supportive.
A lone angry white man, resolutely standing at a barricade as the rest of the fence was dismantled around him, punctuated every cry of “always was, always will be” with “crap!” “It’s all bullshit, everyone came from somewhere,” he contended. A slew of police officers sidled up and stood within grabbing distance as the crowd treated him to his own personal chant.
On the other side of the barrier, among a thicket of protest signs, a white man who looked to be in his nineties took a selfie with a young Aboriginal woman.”Here,” she said, wrapping an Aboriginal Flag around his green-and-gold get-up. “Let’s cover that up.””So will you be marching with us from now on? It’s better on this side,” she asked. Yes, he agreed. It was.
The #InvasionDay march has reached Federation Square. pic.twitter.com/UvrYeNsHDh
— Calla Wahlquist (@callapilla) January 26, 2016
And now we’re heading down Swanston. Police moved aside again. #InvasionDay pic.twitter.com/ZHVfpUzVCh
— Calla Wahlquist (@callapilla) January 26, 2016
Updated
Triple J called Purity Ring lead singer Megan James while she was walking to her van in Hollywood. Their song Begin Again bagged No 87 on the station’s Hottest 100 list.
“It’s one of my favourite songs on the record,” she said. When asked how she was going to celebrate their Hottest 100 entry she added: “I’m going to go home and make some dinner”.
Don’t get too excited Megan! Catch the duo at Laneway festival, which kicks off 30 January and tours the country until 14 February.
In other Hottest 100 countdown news, Courtney Barnett and Flight Facilities have become the first acts to both nab two spots in the 2016 list. This fun fact by Triple J’s Home and Hosed host Dom Alessio:
.@FlightFac have featured in every #Hottest100 since 2010. That’s a 6 year stretch. But @TheLivingEndaus hold the record: 10 years (97-06).
— Dom Alessio (@domalessio) January 26, 2016
81. Angus & Julia Stone’s Big Jet Plane (Triple J Like A Version) by Tuka
82. Depreston by Courtney Barnett
83. Down To Earth by Flight Facilities
84. DMA’s Delete (Triple J Like A Version) by Sticky Fingers
85. Heart Attack feat Owl Eyes by Flight Facilities
86. Happy Song by Bring Me The Horizon
87. Begin Again by Purity Ring
88. Party Machine by the Bennies
89. High By the Beach by Lana Del Rey
90. Gemini feat George Maple by What So Not
This would have been a rather grizzly discovery for some picnic goers in Melbourne. AAP filed this report a short time ago:
A kangaroo has been decapitated and its head left on a barbecue plate at a popular picnic area in Melbourne.
Police say the kangaroo and a skinned rabbit were found at the Diamond Creek Walking Trial picnic site about 8.20am on Tuesday, Australia Day.
When police arrived, they found the head of the kangaroo on a barbecue plate, while the body was located about 60 metres away, Victoria Police spokeswoman Leading Senior Constable Lee Thomson said.
Witness Michael told 3AW radio he was jogging when he came upon the terrible sight.
“I was just at the jogging track and there’s about 10 police here. Kids have put the kangaroo on a public barbecue and have turned it on,” he said.
“There’s a lot of families here. Police have covered it up in plastic because there’s a lot of kids around.”
Police are asking anyone with information to come forward.
Potentially the biggest Australia Day event in Darwin, the Ute Run attracts hundreds of decked-out vehicles to cruise around the streets of town. A large number of spectators line the streets, sitting in camping chairs, ute trays, on picnic rugs, waving as the convoy drives past. It’s run for 14 years and raises money for Variety NT.
It’s hot and sweaty on the racetrack and there are more stubbie shorts and singlets than you could poke a mullet at.
Most are decorated in Australian flags, others have made more of an effort.
The owner of the Camel Car, Jimmy Doyle, says it’s done six Variety bashes and raised about $130,000. Underneath the fur is a 1985 ZL Fairlane, which “hasn’t missed a beat, hasn’t even had a flat tyre” on the long journeys.
“You haven’t lived til you’ve been on a Variety Bash, and the week after you don’t want to live until your liver sorts itself out,” he tells Guardian Australia.
Doyle is also a Variety NT board member and chair of the grants committee. “I get to give the money away which is probably the best second job in the cosmos.”
Oops accidentally joined the ute run pic.twitter.com/C48nXvDw5n
— Helen Davidson (@heldavidson) January 26, 2016
Cooper, Mia, and dad Brendan on their 4th Darwin Ute Run. All big fans of Russell Coight’s All Aussie Adventures pic.twitter.com/eUHgmOUL7g
— Helen Davidson (@heldavidson) January 26, 2016
Camel Car detail #australiaDay #Uterun in Darwin pic.twitter.com/ooOXkX9rwF
— Helen Davidson (@heldavidson) January 26, 2016
Darren, Sarah, and Blake with the Bog Master. #AustraliaDay #uterun in Darwin pic.twitter.com/oBekqGW6Lt
— Helen Davidson (@heldavidson) January 26, 2016
Updated
Guardian Australia’s photographer Mike Bowers has been taking some fantastic pictures from Sydney Harbour and the Australia Day events. Here’s a selection of some of the images he’s been taking.
Bridge climbers watch the ferry race and Australia Day activities around circular quay, Sydney-Tuesday 26th January 2016. Photograph by Mike Bowers Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian
Updated
In Queensland there’s also quite an extensive rally being held by activists and protesters in support of Indigenous land rights. AAP reports:
A large crowd of Aboriginal activists and supporters has rallied outside Queensland’s Parliament House in a protest against Invasion Day.
The crowd gathered outside the entrance of state parliament to express opposition to the celebration of the national day on 26 January, and hear speeches on forced removal of children, racial discrimination and the destruction of traditional lands.
“Always was, always will be, Aboriginal land,” they chanted, ahead of a march through the Brisbane CBD en route to Musgrave park.
Updated
Pop singer Jessica Mauboy sang a powerful and unique version of the Australian national anthem, Advance Australia Fair, this morning.
Standing on the Sydney Harbour Bridge Mauboy sang the anthem in an Indigenous language first, then in English.
Updated
In the world of sport my colleague Mike Hytner has asked me to remind readers that Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova have just started their Australian Open quarter-final. You can read our live coverage of all things sporting today on this live blog.
Paul Connolly has also written a longer piece on the Australian sporting honours list:
Such are the accomplishments of Australia’s best ever male tennis player that if there’s any surprise at Rod Laver being appointed a Companion (AC) of the Order of Australia it’s that he hadn’t already received the honour.
Made a Member of the British Empire in 1970 – a year after he won all four grand slam tournaments in the same calendar year for the second time – Laver, 77, was one of just 10 recipients of the top honour, recognised for his “eminent service to tennis as a player, representative and mentor, at the national and international level, and as a role model for young sportsmen and women”.
Born in Rockhampton, Queensland, the left-handed Laver, nicknamed “Rocket”, won 11 grand slam singles titles – and contributed to six doubles titles, three mixed doubles titles and five Davis Cup titles – despite being banned from amateur tennis, including grand slam events, between 1963 and 1968 for turning professional. When professionalism was embraced in 1968, Laver added five grand slam singles titles to the six he won before 1963.
You can read the rest of his piece here.
Updated
Ten songs have dropped off the Triple J Hottest 100 conveyer belt. Courtney Barnett gets her first look in with Nobody Really Cares if you Don’t Go to the Party at No 95. It certainly won’t be the last we see of the Melbourne singer-songwriter. Can she top last year’s Triple J man of the year, Chet Faker, who had four tracks in the top 25 including the top spot with Talk is Cheap?
91. Be Your Shadow by the Wombats
92. No One feat Thelma Plum by Golden Features
93. Indian Summer by Jai Wolf
94. Ghost by Halsey
95. Nobody Really Cares if you Don’t Go to the Party by Courtney Barnett
96. Rumour Mill feat Anne-Marie/Will Heard by Rudimental
97. Twilight Driving by Methyl Ethel
98. Be Together feat Wild Belle by Major Lazer
99. Bring Me the Horizon by True Friends
100. Hell Boy by Seth Sentry
Updated
Good afternoon, I’m picking up our live coverage of Australia Day here for a spell.
In Sydney the Invasion Day march has arrived at Australia House. The march picked up quite impressively as it wound through the city, and there are a lot of great images that have been popping up.
There are some really powerful stories being told by the speakers – here’s a selection of a few videos and images.
Female speaker talking about being maltreated by Fairfield police #DayOfMourning pic.twitter.com/pLSC1TMLMW
— Alex McKinnon (@mckinnon_a) January 26, 2016
This is OUR Australia. Cnr of George and Goulburn streets right now. #invasionday #AustraliaDay #auspol pic.twitter.com/NDpKVMVCpw
— James Breko Brechney (@breko) January 26, 2016
“228 years it’s been too long. But still we stand here, black & strong” #dayofmourning #survivalday pic.twitter.com/Lf7BP48hza
— Eliza Berlage (@verbaliza) January 26, 2016
There’s also been considerable disquiet about the extent that police are filming the rally. It’s now become an increasingly common practice for NSW police to film rallies and protests. In some cases the footage has been subsequently used as evidence in prosecutions, often for offensive language or behaviour when protests become more heated.
Ashamed by police & policy to surveil people assembling as if they were criminals #AustraliaDay #invasionday pic.twitter.com/YOgA76kbmm
— Luke Bacon (@equivalentideas) January 26, 2016
Updated
The Hottest 100 countdown began with an acknowledgement of country, the first time that’s been done in any Triple J broadcast in memory:
As part of our commitment to reconciliation and equality, we believe January 26 should be inclusive, meaningful and respectful to all Australians, so we take this moment to commemorate Australia’s First Peoples.
Triple J acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia and recognises their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our respects to them and their cultures, and to elders both past and present.
Updated
Helen Davidson, my colleague in the Northern Territory, seems to be having a lively time at the Darwin ute run. She’ll be filing more soon – she’s currently trapped in her parking spot by 200 vehicles – but in the meantime, here’s a taster care of Twitter.
If you’re wondering how sales of Stubbies hold up you only need to check out the Darwin #AustraliaDay ute run. pic.twitter.com/gmf8NqJKrF
— Helen Davidson (@heldavidson) January 26, 2016
The Camel Car has raised almost $130k for Variety in the last 6 years. Yes it’s furry. #AustraliaDay Darwin ute run pic.twitter.com/h8xSmJ7HDp
— Helen Davidson (@heldavidson) January 26, 2016
“That goes for some of the bogans I can see from here too.” #AustraliaDay
— Helen Davidson (@heldavidson) January 26, 2016
— Helen Davidson (@heldavidson) January 26, 2016
The friendly guy from the Patriots Motorcycle Club told me to park here. Maybe he’s not a fan of the guardian.
— Helen Davidson (@heldavidson) January 26, 2016
Updated
Members of the Ahmadi movement of Islam are popping up at Australia Day ceremonies around the country, handing out pamphlets that read “Muslims for loyalty”, and carrying out their own flag-hoisting ceremonies at mosques in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide.
This is Ahmadiyya Muslim Association Australia member Noor Islam. He’s handing out #MuslimsForLoyalty pamphlets. pic.twitter.com/2ARniuFj8Y
— Calla Wahlquist (@callapilla) January 26, 2016
By way of context, the Ahmadiyya are neither Sunni nor Shia, and in fact are considered heretical by some orthodox Muslims. The movement sprang up around 1889 in what was then British-controlled India, its leader Mirza Ghulam Ahmad proclaiming himself a divine reformer and prophet. That claim is rejected by most Muslims, who consider Muhammad the last prophet, and Ahmadis have faced persecution, both legal and by vigilantes, in places such as Pakistan, Indonesia and Iran.
“This is what this country needs” -Australian of the year David Morrison with a group promoting Muslims for Loyalty pic.twitter.com/RPXrGMKwle
— Charles Croucher (@ccroucher9) January 26, 2016
They have faced no such trouble in Australia where the 3,000-strong community is thriving and has made itself a fixture at events such as Clean Up Australia Day. Ahmadis were also prominent in the aftermath of the 2014 Sydney siege, when they descended on Martin Place in “Muslims for Peace” shirts.
(Incidentally, the siege gunman, Man Haron Monis, told Australian immigration authorities he had become an Ahmadiyya Muslim in Iran, and consequently feared for his life. He received a refugee visa after making the claim – investigators say it was almost certainly a lie.)
Updated
Malcolm Turnbull: no politician can make Australia a republic
Malcolm Turnbull says the next push for a republic in Australia must come from a grassroots movement rather than be driven by politicians, or the campaign will end in another “heroic defeat”.
The prime minister, an avowed republican, was speaking after hosting an Australia Day citizenship ceremony in Canberra.
The Australian Republican Movement has sought to build momentum by publishing a pro-republic open letter from all premiers and chief ministers (except Western Australia’s Colin Barnett). The new Australian of the Year, David Morrison, has also pledged support for constitutional change.
Turnbull said he welcomed the additional voices of support, but said the push for a republic must be shown to be a genuinely popular movement.
“No politician, no prime minister or opposition leader or premier can make Australia a republic. Only the Australian people can do that through a referendum.
There needs to be very strong popular momentum for a change. There has to be a sense that the time is right. There are many more urgent issues confronting Australia, and indeed confronting the government, than the momentum or the desire for Australia to become a republic.
Turnbull said the next referendum should held after the end of the Queen’s reign to have the best chance of succeeding.
“To get momentum … it needs to have grassroots support. It is not something that a government can just do, even if it wanted to.”
Updated
3, 2, 1 … the Hottest 100 gets under way
Triple J’s annual Hottest 100 countdown – for many fans of Powderfinger and Muse, a highlight of the national day – is getting under way across Australia.
In typical millennial fashion (I’m assuming, in typical millennial fashion), plenty of people left it until the last minute to cast their votes, with Triple J reporting a “huge swell of traffic” to its website on Friday before the competition closed.
More than 2m votes were cast by nearly 300,000 voters from 172 countries. “That’s HEAPS,” said Triple J in a press release, “after spending the weekend crunching numbers.”
Here are some of the findings of its stats-a-thon:
- 2,094,350 votes cast by 298,851 voters from 172 countries
- More than 16,000 songs voted for
- 54% of the songs in the Hottest 100 from Australian artists
- 26 Hottest 100 debutantes
- Average beats per minute 123, compared with 121 in 2014 and 116 in 2013
Triple J also congratulated listeners on the “number of successful troll campaigns … [and] songs disqualified” (“zero”) this year, a definitely-not-bitter reference to the #Tay4Hottest100 unpleasantness that marred 2015’s competition.
(There were actually tentative moves to get Justin Bieber recognised in the countdown, the legalities of which were discussed at length in this pun- and quotation mark-heavy blog post.)
There are several ways to follow the countdown:
You can turn on your radio, tune into ‘Triple J’ on your digital radio, stream via the Triple J website or listen through the Triple J iPhone app and the ABC radio Android app. Plus you can follow us on social media as we update the Hottest 100 songs, give you a look behind the scenes and highlight the best Hottest 100 parties throughout the day on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,YouTube, Spotify and you can find us on Snapchat at triplejsnaps.
And here’s the blooper reel of its star-studded Hottest 100 trailer.
Updated
There are plenty of ways Sydney residents are marking Australia Day, only some of which involve merchandise with Australian flags on it.
Updated
The 2016 Australian of the Year, David Morrison, has spoken out about religious discrimination faced by the Islamic community in Australia, one day after receiving the top honour.
“When everyone gets a chance to reach their potential, we as a society can reach our potential,” he said in an interview with ABC 24.
Morrison’s profile rose in 2013 after his video address to serving ADF members after the ‘Skype scandal’, in which he lambasted those who turned a blind eye to sexism, harassment and abuse of women in the force.
Updated
The Sydney band the Presets have called 26 January the “cruellest of anniversaries” in a post on Facebook, describing it as the day “white man arrived with his guns, his alcohol, his church, his flus and other unknown illnesses”.
“Out of all the days of the year that we could possibly choose to celebrate this wonderful nation of Australia, we think it’s frankly sickening that we continue to celebrate on this cruellest of anniversaries, January 26.”
The electronic music duo of Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes have proposed shifting the national holiday to an alternate date, such as the birthday of either writer Henry Lawson or Indigenous activist Eddie Mabo.
But not everyone who’s engaged with the post has been supportive.
“How dare you insult a day that is about everyone and turn it into a political discussion which has a typical agenda pushed not by indigenous people, but by white do-gooders,” said Nathan Sorensen-Salman.
“Australia Day is totally about inclusion of everyone and is a celebration – not a commiseration.”
Updated
Morning, all. Elle Hunt here, draped in a flag and with a Caramello koala to hand.
Thus far Australia Day has been marked with plenty of public speeches and pockets of protest. As Michael Safi has already reported, the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has acknowledged contention over the day in recognising “the oldest continuing cultures on Earth”.
“They are the first Australians and we respect and honour them on this, our national day,” he said.
As my colleague Monica Tan wrote in her wrap of Indigenous events being held nationwide, today is for many a timely opportunity to protest against the impacts of colonialism and to express pride in Indigenous culture.
Protests calling for sovereignty, treaty and social justice are taking place in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Hobart and Canberra. Paul Farrell reported that the 2016 Invasion Day march from Redfern to inner-city Sydney was attended by about 1,000 people.
We’ll have more updates throughout the day.
Some the many massacres we will remember this #InvasionDay2016 pic.twitter.com/BgG5O8HRx5
— Pekeri Ruska (@IndigenousX) January 22, 2016
Updated
The 2016 Invasion day march in Sydney drew about 1,000 protesters on Tuesday morning.
The rally was held at The Block in Redfern to fight for sovereignty, treaty and social justice for Indigenous Australians.
Strong turn out for the invasion day rally at Redfern this morning pic.twitter.com/wjLuwMLeUO
— Paul Farrell (@FarrellPF) January 25, 2016
Organiser Ken Canning, an Indigenous playwright and poet, said the rally would march through the original route of the renowned day of mourning protest to Australia Hall on Elizabeth Street that occurred in 1938.
The original hall has been purchased as part of a five-year campaign, and it will be the first time in 78 years that Indigenous Australians have gathered there on 26 January.
“We are sovereign not only in our own land, but in ourselves,” Canning said.
A Wiradjuri elder, Jenny Munro, said: “It is a day of mourning, and it was declared so by our heroes of 1938.”
Jenny Leong, of the Greens, also addressed the crowd and said the party “stands here to show our commitment to your struggle”
“The struggle for justice, the struggle for the land rights, the struggle for a treaty needs to continue,” she said.
Senator Lee Rhiannon was also present.
Huge crowd at The Block for Invasion Day march. Always was always will be Aboriginal land pic.twitter.com/TNblJ5Qkqc
— Senator Lee Rhiannon (@leerhiannon) January 25, 2016
Awesome turnout for the #InvasionDay march pic.twitter.com/aGZJWio8y2
— Henare Degan (@henaredegan) January 25, 2016
Updated
The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has just spoken in Canberra. Here’s a bit of what he had to say:
Australia is the most successful multicultural society in the world, diverse and harmonious. Our people come from close to 200 countries. For more than 40,000 years, Australia was cared for by the nation’s of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Theirs are the oldest continuing cultures on earth. They are the first Australians and we respect and honour them on this, our national day. So our nation is as old as humanity itself, as old as the rock carvings of the peninsula and the stories of the Dreamtime, told by the first Australians, as old as the Magna Carta, the rule of law and the poetry of Shakespeare, brought by the British settlers, as old as the mysteries of every faith and the riches of every culture, which contributes so much to our diversity.
Yet, we are as new as the baby who becomes a citizen today in the arms of its migrant parents. We can look at our past with great pride and with some regret but we are not defined, let alone trapped by our history, as many other nations are. Many nations define themselves by a common race or religion or culture. Not us. Our national identity is defined by shared political values, democracy, tempered by the rule of law. A deep belief that each of us owes the other a fair go, the best chance to realise our dreams. And binding us together is mutual respect. We often take that forgranted but we should not. We don’t have to look far to seethe consequences of its absence.
From here he launches into the full Turnbull:
We live in the most exciting time in human history. There has never been such rapid change. Billions lifted out of poverty in a few generations, technology available to many that until recently, even the richest billionaire could not afford. And in this era of transformation, Australia is so well positioned. In a global economy where technology is triumphing over geography, Australians are naturally global citizens.
Updated
From around the country, here’s a grab of how Australians are celebrating our national day. They come via #AustraliaDay Your Way, an initiative of the National Museum of Australia, curating social media posts from the day to create a digital time capsule.
G’day #Perth! Happy Australia Day. If you snap something particularly Aussie, tweet us #ozdayABC #AustraliaDay pic.twitter.com/47PJTFcE8T
— ABC News Perth (@abcnewsPerth) January 25, 2016
Happy Australia Day! Lots of love, Bon Bon #australiaday #australiadayyourway pic.twitter.com/icnX20roFW
— Rainforestation (@RFSKuranda) January 25, 2016
#AustraliaDay #StrayaDay #AussieFlag @OzDay pic.twitter.com/a0M1AxJQ2E
— Tank (@Tanks_art) January 25, 2016
All set for Australia day! Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Australia. Love Australia. #AustraliaDay #OzDay #Ahmadiyya pic.twitter.com/Dviby0gwVd
— AMYA Penrith (@AmyaPenrith) January 25, 2016
Not a bad view, via Jessica Mauboy, who sang the national anthem this morning from the top of the Sydney Harbour bridge.
Here’s AAP’s take:
Dressed in a bright red dress, Mauboy belted out the national anthem in the Indigenous language before repeating it in English from the blustery heights of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Both the Australian and Aboriginal flags were raised together as she sang the anthems at 134 metres above the harbour.
Mauboy’s heartfelt delivery sounded out across the harbour just before 8am on a cloudy Tuesday morning.
The Indigenous version was a medley of local Sydney dialects, Australia Day organisers said.
Updated
Perhaps the country’s most prominent citizenship ceremony is currently under way in Canberra’s Rond Terrace, and includes a flag raising, the country’s Federation Guard, the Navy Band, an aerial flyover and 21 gun salute.
The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, is also there, and will no doubt have something to say. The event is being simulcast as I write on ABC News 24. Ben Roberts-Smith, a Victoria Cross winner (his citation here) and chairman of the Australia Day Council, is just arriving now.
A warm welcome to those becoming Australian Citizens today. Tune into @ABCTV at 10am #AustraliaDay pic.twitter.com/ojoI6rIdqu
— Australia Day (@OzDay) January 25, 2016
Updated
Almost 400 citizenship ceremonies will be held across the country on Tuesday, welcoming more than 16,000 people from 154 countries.
The immigration minister, Peter Dutton, had this to say about the events: “Whether you are a citizen by birth or by pledge, today we are reminded by the numbers of those affirming their loyalty to Australia and its people, that we truly do live in the lucky country.”
New Australians: let this gentleman’s shirt be an indicator of the kind of dress that’s customary in your new home.
Updated
Many Australia Day barbecues around the country will see patchy weather with clouds threatening to make backyard cricket a bit muddy.
For Sydneysiders, the Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting a cloudy day with a maximum of 27C. But more likely than not, there will be a shower or two.
Melburnians will probably escape any rain ruining their snags, with a sunny day reaching a max of 28C. Although the smell of their barbecues will mingle with the smell of smoke from bushfires.
Brisbane will reach similar temperatures but most likley have showers and thunderstorms, while Perth and Adelaide look set to be sunny and reach the low 30s.
It’s touch-and-go in the nation’s capital, with a 50% chance of rain, most likely to hit in the afternoon, after reaching a maximum of 26C.
Darwin will hit 33C and has a 40% chance of rain.
Hobart will see a maximum of 19C and maybe a bit of drizzle in the north.
Updated
An unexpected hit on the eve of Australia Day has been the months-old, but only recently posted video of journalist Stan Grant’s remarks during an IQ2 debate in Sydney, on whether racism was ruining the Australian dream.
Emphatically yes, said Grant, also Guardian Australia’s Indigenous Affairs editor.
If you’re one of the handful of people left in the country who hasn’t seen it, you bloody should.
Stan has written on the video’s success and reflected on the meaning of Australia Day in his latest piece here.
Australia’s myths, poetry and anthem tell of a land that can appear unrecognisable to us. We don’t share in the ‘boundless plains’, we have not enjoyed the ‘wealth for toil’, the sweeping plains and rugged mountains ranges of a sunburnt country were too often places of death for us on the Australian frontier.
Indigenous people die still a decade younger than our fellow Australians, we are 3% of the population yet a quarter of those in prisons. By every measure Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders remain the poorest, most disadvantaged people in Australia and this is no accident. The seeds of our suffering were sown in dispossession at a time when the very humanity of my people was denied.
The Australian of the Year, David Morrison, has also had a speech go viral. Here’s his famed June 2013 address – penned by another Australian of the Year nominee, Group Captain Cate McGregor – making it eminently clear what he expects of his troops (“ … and if that does not suit you, then get out”).
Awarded Australian of the Year on Monday night, Morrison said of his remarks: “It’s only a fellow, a bloke, saying to his workforce that treating your colleagues with respect is a precondition of your employment. That’s all it is.”
Updated
One day, in the future, every message from our rulers will be delivered via Google Doodle – if today’s is any indication, that might not be such a bad thing.
The tech giant has fashioned its all-famous landing page as “Stolen Dreamtime”, a design by Ineka Voigt, a Canberra high school student who described her design thus:
If I could travel back in time I would reunite mother and child. A weeping mother sits in an ochre desert, dreaming of her children and a life that never was … all that remains is red sand, tears and the whispers of her stolen dreamtime.
Our friends over at New Matilda note that past ’straya day-themed Doodles have played a straight bat: kids building a sandcastle, idyllic bush scenes, native wildlife. Something is stirring.
Or is it? We’ve also been passed a poll by YouGov, of more than 500 people, surveying their views on Australia/Invasion/Survival Day. It found:
- 86% of Australians refer to 26 January as Australia Day. A particularly crusty minority opt for Anniversary/Foundation/ANA Day (6%). The last 8% “have no opinion on what the day is known as”.
- 78% of Australians polled said the day was worth celebrating: to take pride in Australia’s culture, values, identity (74%), to hold citizenship ceremonies and other events (60%) and celebrate the patchwork of communities that make up the social fabric (56%).
- Around 67 of the 538 people polled said the day wasn’t worth celebrating. 65% said it represented loss and injustice towards Indigenous Australians, 35% said it was a lame excuse to get pissed and one-quarter said it lacked any real meaning.
Updated
Good morning, it’s Australia Day 2016, and we’re covering it live all day. Welcome to our coverage.
Much of the chatter this year is about change: the date of our national day, the constitution and the flag – the latter to one of these numbers, put to a vote of more than 8,000 run by a Western Sydney University researcher.
More than 60% said they were in favour of switching out the flag, with the most popular design, Southern Horizon in the top right, winning 31% of the vote.
Already we know the Australian of the Year: Lieutenant General David Morrison, the former chief of army for the Australian defence force and a campaigner for diversity and equality in the armed forces.
A potential future winner is Senator Jacqui Lambie, who’s had a strong start, delivering an Australia Day message urging anyone who doesn’t like our “democratic rights” to find another country.
Naturally, she’s in a sequinned Australian flag singlet and feather hat plastered in the national ensign. Here’s the highlight of her address, which I hope will be an annual fixture:
Remember, if you don’t like our democratic rights, liberties and laws, equality for all, including women, gay, and Indigenous people, there are plenty of other countries to choose from.
We’ll bring you highlights from events around the country, including updates on the all-important Triple J Hottest 100, and whatever else springs up on this auspicious occasion.
Much about today is contested, and feels especially so this year. One thing worth celebrating: that it’s still possible, at least for one day, for Australians who disagree to sit down together, honour what makes this country special, and write no columns whatsoever.
Yes it’s @AndrewBoltsBlog with @LindaBurneyMP at #Survival day Sydney this morning : post from @wesleyenoch pic.twitter.com/v7i1lWVBVS
— Aboriginal Health (@NACCHOAustralia) January 25, 2016
Stay with us.
Updated
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010
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Australia Day: honours, citizenship, protests, sport, Hottest 100 – live!
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