In the spirit of catching up with relatives over the holidays, I’d like to introduce you to a member of your extra-extended family: The Saber-toothed Gorgonopsian from Mallorca. Get acquainted with your great-great-great (insert about 100 million greats here) grandmother’s cousin. It’s probably not going to behave well at the dinner table.
Then, the grim prognoses of Disney princesses are outlined in one of the world’s premiere medical journals. Next, I’m back on the cannibalism beat; I just can’t help myself. Finally, an archaeological adventure a world away.
Happy winter solstice to all who thrive in darkness. If you’re in the Southern Hemisphere, say hi to the Sun for us.
If you trace your lineage far back enough, you will eventually reach therapsid ancestors. Mammals sprouted out of this ancient group of creatures some 225 million years ago, around the same time that dinosaurs were ascending to world domination. But though therapsids were abundant during the Permian era, the period before the emergence of mammals and dinosaurs, gaps in the fossil record have made it difficult to reconstruct the origins of this ancestral group.
Enter: DA21/17-01-01, a fossil specimen that dates back at least 270 million years, making it likely the oldest therapsid ever found. The dog-sized animal was a “gorgonopsian,” a group of therapsid carnivores with saber-like teeth reminiscent of later mammals, but that still maintained more reptilian features, including oviparity (they laid eggs rather than birthing live offspring).
Paleontologists were surprised to discover this gorgonopsian on the Spanish island of Mallorca, which was located in the equatorial region of the supercontinent Pangaea during the Permian. Almost all other gorgonopsian remains are preserved in locations like Russia and South Africa that would have been at higher latitudes, nearer to the poles. Previous work has suggested that therapsids originated at higher latitudes and then radiated into equatorial regions, but DA21/17-01-01 hints that the reverse may be true.
“The gorgonopsian from Mallorca provides the first unequivocal evidence that therapsids were indeed present in the summer wet biomes of equatorial Pangaea during the early–middle Permian transition, suggesting that the group may have originated in lower, tropical latitudes, rather than in the higher latitudes where nearly all of their fossils are known,” said researchers led by Rafel Matamales-Andreu of the Museu Balear de Ciències Naturals.
“If therapsids originated in the tropics, this has implications for metabolic evolution in the clade,” the team added.
First off, let’s acknowledge that “the gorgonopsian from Mallorca” is a sublime phrase. It should be the title of a Criterion Collection classic. But more importantly, the discovery of this “unambiguously early” therapsid in the Pangean tropics offers a fleeting glimpse of a “ghost lineage” of mammal precursors. Ghost lineages are branches of the evolutionary tree that are presumed to exist based on circumstantial evidence, but that didn’t leave direct traces in the fossil record. Therapsid fossils proliferate in the middle and upper Permian, but scientists have long suspected that they originated much earlier, more than 300 million years ago.
“We confirm the traditional understanding that there was a relatively long ghost lineage of about 15 million years between the origin of ‘total-group’ therapsids and the radiation of the major therapsid clades,” around 278 million years ago, the team said.
“This discovery opens the door for findings that may fill in the early therapsid fossil gap in the lower Permian, not in high latitude sites as traditionally thought, but in the so far poorly explored lower–middle Permian areas of palaeoequatorial Pangaea. Those locations hold the potential to elucidate the early evolution of therapsids and the origins of mammalian features.”
In other words, it’s worth searching for more of these early therapsids at overlooked sites, like the Balearic Islands. Some features that distinguish us as mammals today have their roots in what the study describes, somewhat luxuriously, as the “ancient summer wet biome of equatorial Pangaea.”
Every December, the British Medical Journal publishes a Christmas issue filled with parody studies and light-hearted editorials. My favorite example this year confronts the pressing health problems of Disney princesses, such as Cinderella’s risk of respiratory illness, Belle’s exposure to rabies, and Pocahontas’ bone-shattering penchant for diving off high cliffs.
But perhaps the best case study is Jasmine, whose social isolation is described in these devastating terms: “While the Genie might sing ‘you ain’t never had a friend like me,’ the truth is that Jasmine has no friends at all,” according to researchers led by Sanne van Dijk of the University of Twente.
Wow, the medical consensus about Jasmine is pretty harsh. To add insult to injury, the editorial notes that Jasmine’s one companion, the tiger Rajah, “poses a risk of zoonotic infection as well as craniofacial and cervical spinal injuries” adding that “although Rajah seems like a sweet tiger, its natural instincts could lead to a dangerous and potentially fatal situation—a true Arabian nightmare.”
Please Disney, listen to these experts and start showing the real-life consequences of the princess lifestyle. We need a rabid Belle foaming at the mouth, Pocahontas in a full body cast, and Rajah brutally mauling Jasmine. Otherwise, we are sending a message to young people that it is safe to hang out with captive tigers and chimeric beasts while jumping off Niagara Falls.
I will note that the study has nothing to say about Moana, who I will hereafter conclude is the healthiest Disney princess. We salute a physiologically robust chief.
Steel yourself for some bad vibes, because this is a story about an unhinged cannibalistic massacre that occurred 4,000 years ago. Archaeologists working at Charterhouse Warren, an English Bronze Age burial site, have discovered evidence of a grotesque attack designed to “other” its many victims through butchery and consumption of flesh.
“Some 37 men, women and children—and possibly many more—were killed at close quarters with blunt instruments and then systematically dismembered and defleshed, their long bones fractured in a way that can only be described as butchery,” said researchers led by Rick Schulting of the University of Oxford. “Body parts were deposited in what was probably a single event between 2210 and 2010 BC, in a partly infilled shaft that was still 15 meters deep.”
“While evidence for interpersonal violence is not unknown in British prehistory, nothing else on this scale has been found,” the team noted.
It’s unlikely that these acts were motivated by either “culinary cannibalism,” embodied by Hannibal Lecter, or “survival cannibalism,” the desperate acts of starvation typified by tragedies like the Donner Party. The cruel and unusual treatment of the victims, even after their deaths, suggests a deliberate attempt at dehumanization.
The events “may be best interpreted as an extreme form of ‘violence as performance,’ in which the aim was to not only eradicate another group, but to thoroughly ‘other’ them in the process,” according to the study. “While the remains themselves seem to have been removed from view soon afterwards (to judge from the paucity of carnivore scavenging), an event of this scale could not be hidden, and no doubt resonated across the wider region and over time. In this sense it was a political statement.”
My advice is to steer clear of political statements that demand ritualistic cannibalism, but I’m open to the marketplace of ideas.
Let’s close out with an archaeology story that doesn’t involve dehumanizing bloodbaths; we will need to travel to another planet to accomplish this task. No massacres have occurred on Mars at the time of this writing, but the red planet is home to plenty of archaeological sites and artifacts, which I shall hereafter refer to as Martifacts.
Technological relics on Mars, such as dead rovers or spent heat shields, are part of the human archaeological record, raising questions about the culture and heritage value of Martifacts.
“Some scientists have referred to this cultural material as ‘space trash’ or ‘galactic litter,’ implying that it may have limited scientific value and could cause environmental problems and put future missions at risk,” said researchers led by Justin Holcomb of the Kansas Geological Survey.
“We agree that these concerns warrant further investigation, but we argue that the objects need to be evaluated as important cultural heritage in need of protection because they record the legacy of space exploration by our species,” the team said.
The article reminds me of the heartrending xkcd comic that portrays NASA’s Spirit rover coming to terms with its abandonment on Mars. Space archaeology can seem esoteric but it is relevant to consider values about our off-Earth heritage at a time when visions of Martian colonization are culturally ascendent. There is more to this extraterrestrial archaeological record than the sum of its dusty metal parts.
Also, I’m calling dibs on the remains of the Opportunity rover right now and we all know that dibs are legally binding.
(The following is a post written by Huda Dayton, Arab World Reference Librarian)
World Arabic Language Day has been observed annually on December 18th since 2012 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). This observance celebrates multilingualism and promotes equitable use of all six official languages of the United Nations. The selection of December 18th is significant, as it marks the date in 1973 when Arabic was adopted as the sixth official language of the United Nations, along with Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish. The inclusion of Arabic underscores the United Nations’ commitment to multilingualism and the equal importance attributed to each of its official languages.
UNESCO introduced this annual event to promote cultural diversity and underscore the global significance of the Arabic language. The 2024 celebration marks the 51st anniversary of Arabic’s official recognition at the UN. With speakers exceeding 400 million and official status in nearly 25 countries, Arabic holds profound historical and cultural importance. UNESCO’s themes over the years have highlighted Arabic’s role as a bridge between civilizations, its contributions to knowledge and philosophy, and its capacity to connect diverse cultures. Last year’s Arabic Language Day focused on Arabic’s contributions to the arts and poetry, while previous years have focused on technology and the Arabic language in the digital sphere.
AI technologies offer transformative opportunities for Arabic speakers and those interested in Arabic’s intellectual heritage to access web content in Arabic by enhancing access to texts and cultural heritage through digitization, AI-based optical character recognition (OCR), semantic tagging, natural language processing, and machine translation. These technologies ensure broader accessibility to Arabic texts and foster a future where tradition and innovation coexist. The use of artificial intelligence tools on web content contributes to the preservation of works written in Arabic, promotes the use of Arabic, enhances language education, and helps bridge the digital divide between cultures. Examples include natural language processing that offers real-time translation from other languages to Arabic and vice versa, and AI assistants that provide answers to questions in Arabic.
The Arabic Language
Structure
The Arabic alphabet consists of 28 letters, primarily representing consonants, and is written from right to left. It derives from the North Semitic alphabet and forms the basis of a three-letter root system. Words are formed by adding vowels, prefixes, and suffixes to these roots, leading to many different words and meanings. Diacritical marks known as ‘tashkil’ indicate short vowels, for example, the three-letter root word k-t-b can be combined to mean “to Write” katab= كَتَبَ . The following words are all derived from this root. For example:
Book: kitāb = كتاب
Writing: kitābah = كتابة
Written: maktūb = مكتوب
Writer: kātib = كاتب
This linguistic structure exemplifies the adaptability and depth of the Arabic language.
Phonetic Diversity
Arabic has a wide range of sounds, including unique guttural ones such as:
“ض” (ḍād)
“خ” (kha)
“ع” (‘ain)
“ح” (ḥ)
These sounds, along with gender agreements in nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and verbs, contribute to the language’s complexity and richness.
Significance
Arabic holds a central role in Islam as the language of the Quran, regarded by Muslims as the literal word of God. The language is integral to daily prayers, religious studies, rituals, and serves as a unifying medium for an estimated 1.8 billion Muslims worldwide. Arabic also fosters spiritual connection within the global Muslim community, transcending regional and cultural boundaries.
The map below illustrates the spread of Islam throughout the Eastern Hemisphere.
The map illustrates the geographical distribution of Muslim populations across Asia, the Middle East, North and West Africa, and parts of Europe. Central Intelligence Agency, 2002, Geography and Map Division, Library of Congress.
Over the centuries, the Arabic script has been adapted to a number of languages, including Persian, Ottoman Turkish, and Urdu. The influence of Arabic transcends the boundaries of Islam, as indicated by the significant number of non-Muslim native Arabic speakers, which includes Christians, Druze, and Jews among others.
Artificial Intelligence Planning at the Library of Congress
The Library of Congress has been exploring ways to expand the use of digital materials by employing emerging technologies. Machine learning (ML), a branch of artificial intelligence, offers the potential to facilitate the creation of metadata and connections between collection items and users. It is also important to note that the diversity of library formats and language collections presents both challenges and opportunities.
Artificial intelligence tools can enhance the comprehension and appreciation of Arabic poetry and calligraphy manuscripts. Although the collection items below are digitized on the open web, AI offers the potential for improving text recognition and facilitating scholarly exploration of these cultural artifacts. This approach aligns with UNESCO’s initiative to leverage AI for enhancing global access to Arabic collections.
A significant Arabic poetry manuscript in the Library of Congress collection, the Burdah (1600-1700) of al-Busiri (1213-1294) is one of the most revered poems dedicated to the Prophet Muhammad and is frequently recited at Islamic religious celebrations. African and Middle Eastern Division, Library of Congress.
Arabic Calligraphy
Traditionally, Arabic calligraphy emphasizes the creative and decorative application of Arabic script. It has a long history and plays an important role in Islamic culture and art. Calligraphy in Arabic is an evolved art of penmanship; an artistic way to present Quranic verses, poetry, sayings and other texts in a pleasing and artistic manner.
With Arabic calligraphy, artificial intelligence is used to digitize, automate transcription, analyze font designs, and thus preserving the inherent beauty of the art form while making it more intelligible to the general public.
Calligraphy using the Arabic alphabet has been utilized extensively throughout the vast Islamic world. It may be therefore broadly classified into a wide variety of styles; perhaps some of the best known are Kufic and Naskh, which themselves include several variations and sub-styles.
This parchment features Qur’anic Verses a segment of Surah Al-A’la from the Holy Qur’an, adorned and inscribed in Kufic script, with diacritical marks in red ink, and verse indicators composed of three gold dots. The Kufic script exemplifies a pattern of dotted diacritical marks characteristic of an earlier phase of Arabic calligraphy. Kufic script, 10th century, Qur’anic Verses. African and Middle Eastern Division, Library of Congress.
Supplication for Quran completion. An illustrative calligraphy depicts a page from a manuscript written in Ottoman Arabic Naskh script. It is a supplication offered in praise of God, the All-Hearing and All-Knowing, traditionally recited upon the completion of the Holy Quran. Such supplications typically mark the Quran’s conclusion and are often adorned with decorative elements. Supplication for Quran completion. c. 1550-1600. African and Middle Eastern Division. Library of Congress.
Conclusion
UNESCO’s Arabic Language Day highlights the integration of artificial intelligence into the Arabic language, emphasizing its scientific, cultural, and historical importance. AI can play a transformative role in preserving and promoting the usage of the Arabic language and Arabic calligraphy. The use of these technologies enables us to explore Arabic in-depth and to understand the cultural heritage embedded in Arabic scripts. AI contributes to the digitization and preservation of ancient manuscripts, enabling Arabic collections to be available online on a global scale.
Integrated AI technology and Arabic’s rich history ensure that Arabic remains a vibrant and evolving language. The Arabic language continues to be a source of inspiration and advancement in human knowledge, fostering deeper cultural exchanges and understanding across the globe.
People will try to tell you history is boring, and then you open up a history book and it hits you with the sentence, “Among the inheritors of great names and great fortunes in America it is difficult if not impossible to find a living man who has given a dinner party at which nude chorus girls leaped from the innards of lamb potpie”
Reaching those conclusions, however, can be a bit of a challenge for two reasons. One, which we won't really go into here, is that some policies that are now disfavored were put in place while Republicans were in charge of the national pandemic response. This leads to a number of awkward juxtapositions in the report: Operation Warp Speed is praised, while the vaccines it produced can't really be trusted; lockdowns promoted by Trump adviser Deborah Birx were terrible, but Birx's boss at the time goes unmentioned.
That's all a bit awkward, but it has little to do with evaluating scientific evidence. Here, the report authors' desire to reach specific conclusions runs into a minefield of a complicated evidentiary record. For example, the authors want to praise the international travel restrictions that Trump put in place early in the pandemic. But we know almost nothing about their impact because most countries put restrictions in place after the virus was already present, and any effect they had was lost in the pandemic's rapid spread.
At the same time, we have a lot of evidence that the use of well-fitted, high-quality masks can be effective at limiting the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Unfortunately, that's the opposite of the conclusion favored by Republican politicians.
So how did they navigate this? By shifting the standard of evidence required between topics. For example, in concluding that "President Trump’s rapidly implemented travel restrictions saved lives," the report cites a single study as evidence. But that study is primarily based on computer models of the spread of six diseases—none of them COVID-19. As science goes, it's not nothing, but we'd like to see a lot more before reaching any conclusions.
In contrast, when it comes to mask use, where there's extensive evidence that they can be effective, the report concludes they're all worthless: "The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention relied on flawed studies to support the issuance of mask mandates." The supposed flaw is that these studies weren't randomized controlled trials—a standard far more strict than the same report required for travel restrictions. "The CDC provided a list of approximately 15 studies that demonstrated wearing masks reduced new infections," the report acknowledges. "Yet all 15 of the provided studies are observational studies that were conducted after COVID-19 began and, importantly, none of them were [randomized controlled trials]."
Can I be vulnerable with you for a second? I always believed we’d get back together.
Smallpox thought I was nuts. He kept telling me, “You’re delusional, bro.”
Rinderpest was similarly down about it. “They literally eradicated you.” I’m like, maybe look in the mirror when you say shit like that? Because I might be down, but I am not out.
And every time I talked about my comeback, Dracunculiasis rolled her eyes at me. “They all but wiped you out, man. It was one of the great successes of twentieth-century medicine.”
That was hard to hear. But I held on. I believe in manifesting. And I know you: You’re always saying that you’re over stuff that you aren’t REALLY over. You revive every franchise, and you reboot all your television shows. You “quit” social media. Look at high-rise jeans. And also low-rise jeans. Pretty much every rise of jeans. You count them out, and then—bam—just when you’ve finally cleaned them out of your closet, they’re back in fashion again. That’s why, despite everything, I’ve stayed optimistic.
I know, I know, “remember when” is the lowest form of conversation. But I can’t let you forget what it was like when we did everything together. I was the king of your world. I hit 1916 like a goddamn wrecking ball. More than 21,000 permanently disabling cases of me and more than 6,000 deaths, mostly children. By 1952, I was paralyzing and killing people left, right, and center. Rich, poor, presidential: it didn’t matter. Little ones under five were my specialty. What can I say? I love kids. I’m like the Matt Gaetz of infectious disease.
You were so obsessed with me. The only thing you feared more was nuclear war. I was all you thought about. You shut down your swimming pools and beaches; you avoided big crowds, movie theaters, and sporting events. You put your sick children in those awful, giant machines—iron lungs—because I’d paralyzed their muscles, and they couldn’t breathe. You did it all for me. Call me a dreamer, but I really thought it could be like that forever.
Of course, there were threats to our future. Salk in ’55. Sabin in ’61. Those nerds really did a number on me. Then in 1988, you launched a global initiative to wipe me from the face of the earth. I thought: Yeah, good luck with that.
As if I needed another nail in my coffin. I knew that once people who were too young to remember when I ruled the streets had lived experience with a global pandemic and witnessed firsthand both the toll of a brutal, deadly disease and the miraculous preventative work that a vaccine could do—that would be game over for me.
But I forgot something important. Something really powerful and kind of beautiful: So many of you—a critical mass of you, possibly a majority of you—are really fucking stupid. And I’ve always loved that about you!
Remember before the polio vaccine how some of you were blaming my spread on Italians? That was the real you. That whole thing where you trusted scientists and listened to their expert counsel? Sweetheart, you and I both know that was just a phase. Deep down, you’re a sucker for misinformation, which is being pummeled into your brain at an alarming rate via a deliberately destabilizing media ecosystem operated by megalomaniacal carnival barkers and tech billionaires who truly do not care if any other person on this planet lives or dies. That’s what makes you who you are, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
So, I never gave up on you. I could see you were sending me little hints that you missed our time together: when you subscribed to Goop and started liking all those social media posts that were “just asking questions” about vaccines, when you elected Trump the first time, and then also that second time. You really gave me hope.
Now, with that brain-wormed Kennedy at the top of the FDA, nothing is stopping us from reuniting. I’ve missed you, okay? I’m not too proud to admit it. But I know that you know we’re endgame, baby. Once you take me back, I’ll never let you go. We’re in it for the long haul. Till death do us part.
But I forgot something important. Something really powerful and kind of beautiful: So many of you—a critical mass of you, possibly a majority of you—are really fucking stupid. And I’ve always loved that about you!
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