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Israel confirms it killed Hamas leader Haniyeh in TehranI’ve often wondered if maybe there is a genetic influence in the love of gardening. I think there might be. My grandmother gave a presentation to her garden club in Tyler in about 1952 about her grandmother’s garden. Her grandmother’s house (my great-great grandmother) sat on the corner of Bonner and Fan Street (now called Woldert Street). My mother remembers it as a sprawling house with a packed dirt yard that was swept with a broom every day. Here are some excerpts from that presentation describing gardening in 1900s Tyler: When I first remember the garden, there were no cars, no paved streets, no street lights and no stock laws in Tyler. Everybody had a fence to keep out the neighbors’ cows and chickens. This grandmother of mine knew that a garden was not made by saying “oh, how beautiful” and sitting in the shade, but that it took constant, hard work to make flowers grow and keep out the weeds. There was no particular pattern to their garden. They (my great-great grandmother and her widowed sister who lived with her) had planted a row of cedar trees across the front of their place and from the front gate to the house on either side of a wide gravel walk. I remember the trees were quite tall and in between the cedars there were violets, pansies, paper-white narcissus, jonquils, candytuff, nasturtiums and sweet alyssum. Occasionally one of the huge old forest trees in the back lot would die and have to be cut down to be used as firewood in the nine fireplaces and grandmother would save the stump to hold pots or make a seesaw for her great grandchildren. Yes, there was a pit and through the windows in the winter, you could always find something in bloom. In the spring out came plumbago, huge banana plants, geraniums, hibiscus, ponderosa, lemons, begonias – oh, everything – and all kinds of seeds just sprouting, ready to go in the ground. The front porch was “l” shaped. On one end grew the loveliest running roses; at the other end were steps leading to the pergola also rose covered. There were trellises in front of the windows all around the house covered in morning glories, moon vines, white clematis, coral vine, honeysuckle, gourd vines and running roses. Cape jasmines, roses, lilies of all kinds, tuberoses, golden glow, poppies, vincas, peonies and on and on. At night there was a big grey-green leafed bush that bloomed out in big white flowers that always smelled so good. There were four o’clocks all over the front yard. The grandchildren’s favorite place was the scuppernong arbor housing our playhouses. She also had plenty of sunflowers planted for the chickens. One day I went through the back lot to grandmother’s little store on the corner of Front and Bonner and there was the prettiest hollyhock plant, so thinking it had just volunteered, I dug it up and took it home and planted it. Grandmother came by and admired it. She said, “Do you know, I planted a whole row of hollyhocks in the back lot but had no luck, not one of then came up!” I didn’t say a word! One wet spring morning as grandmother was getting flowers out of the pit, she slipped and fell in. We thought she was broken all to pieces; she wouldn’t let anybody touch her. We carried her hot water to soak her ankle and liniment for the scratches. At noon, she made us bring down a bridge table and chair. The cook made a good lunch. Grandmother ate but was still to hurt to be brought into the house. As the night time came, she finally allowed the yard man to help her out of the pit and into the house. Bright and early the next morning, she was out in the garden again, humming as she worked. On winter days when it was too cold to work outside, grandmother and auntie poured over the dozens of seed catalogs, ooh’ing and aah’ing over every plant. Seeds were much less expensive then but their orders were still about $50! After working in the yard all day, grandmother loved to get dressed and sit on the front porch, enjoying her flowers, the birds that were there by the dozens, the butterflies, the bees, the humming birds and sometimes an old hen and her chickens scratching about. Company nearly always dropped in as she sat on her porch. Sometimes she would invite the grandchildren over for tea cakes and lemonade – she was really a good cook as well as a good gardener.
Bengaluru & Kolkata: Tale of two citiesROME — How is Santa Claus able to visit billions of homes around the world in a single night? He has help. The men and women serving at the Eastern Air Defense Sector on the Griffiss Business and Technology Park in Rome are on hand this Christmas Eve to help track Santa in his flight, a duty they have undertaken for decades. And they are only part of a larger tracking operation by NORAD. “EADS is always happy to support NORAD’s Santa tracking operation,” said Col. Joseph F. Roos, EADS Commander. “Our highly trained Airmen defend the homeland day and night, and they are prepared and ready to track Santa this December 24.” EADS, which is responsible for the air defense of the United States east of the Mississippi River, is composed of the New York Air National Guard’s 224th Air Defense Group, a Canadian Armed Forces detachment, U.S. Army and Navy liaison officers, and federal civilians and contractors. EADS also has a squadron and a detachment in the National Capital Region. The annual tracking operation involves radar systems, satellites, and fighter jets that work in tandem to follow Santa’s sleigh as it travels from the North Pole. Real-time updates are provided to eager children and families through NORAD’s official Santa Tracker website and hotline at www.norad santa.org. Trackin g is also available on Facebook and YouT ube. The tracking begins at 4 a.m. on Dec. 24. And starting at 6 a.m., children and parents can call to get updates on Santa’s journey by dialing 1-877-446-6723 to speak to a live phone operator or to hear a recorded update. The modern tradition of tracking Santa began in 1955 when a young child accidentally dialed the unlisted phone number of NORAD’s predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command operations center. The Director of Operations, Colonel Harry Shoup, answered the phone and instructed his staff to check the radar for indications of Santa making his way south from the North Pole. A tradition was born and continued when NORAD was formed in 1958. Each year since, NORAD has dutifully reported Santa’s location on Dec. 24 to millions of children and families across the globe.
Broadview Heights to decide tonight whether all city services are halted for the first 15 days of JanuaryKing Charles is currently staying at Sandringham for the Christmas season , but the monarch has long loved his Gloucestershire home of Highgrove , even though his son, Prince William , now owns the property. On Christmas Day, the residence's social media accounts shared a magical new image of the property with snow falling all around . The 18th century property looked straight out of a film scene with bright red berries seen in the green leaves surrounding the brickwork. Inside, the property was just as festive with large wreaths adorning the doors. The caption read: " From all of us at Highgrove Gardens, we would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas! " A Christmas tree and star emoji were also posted. Watch the incredible moment Princess Charlotte stops to take selfie on Christmas day Samuel Chatto's girlfriend follows in Meghan Markle's footsteps during Sandringham debut Grand Duke Henri announces abdication in emotional Christmas speech Gavin and Stacey star Joanna Page's family life with famous husband Savannah Phillips, 14, recycles her mum Autumn Phillips' festive coat Highgrove has been sharing several festive photos over the past few weeks, and on the winter solstice, they provided a never-before-seen look of the royal residence. A charming winter scene is captured in the snap , which also features a whimsical arched doorway reminiscent of a fairytale. As hedges and blooming shrubs line the pathway, towering trees make a canopy over the tiny door, with the entire scene covered in a dusting of snow. "Today is the first official day of winter, and there's no better way to embrace the new season than with a snowy view of the gardens," explained the image. Highgrove is a Georgian residence surrounded by 900 acres of organic land, including a farm which Charles installed when he first renovated the house. The nine-bedroom, six-bathroom mansion is renowned for its beautiful décor and stunning gardens, the latter of which King Charles worked to create when he was Prince of Wales. It is thought that the 900 acres of gardens at Highgrove House have become somewhat of a passion project for the King. He has spent the last three decades transforming the land into an organic farm, strictly limiting the use of antibiotics and other harmful chemicals. A keen phytophile, Charles' gardens at Highgrove House are one of the monarch's pride and joys, having been curated by the royal for the last 30 years.
A Pakistan without Benazir Bhutto Ms Benazir Bhutto had returned to Pakistan with mission of reconciliation in politically and religiously divided country Benazir Bhutto takes the oath of office for prime minister on October 19, 1993 in Islamabad. —AFP/File The general belief is that no one is indispensable in this mortal world. But in my humble opinion, there are definitely exceptions to this general rule. Had Jinnah (our Quaid-e-Azam) and Benazir Bhutto lived a little longer, Pakistan would have been a different and a much better country. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1700472799616-0'); }); Mohammad Ali Jinnah, like his rival Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, would have given a liberal, democratic and multi-religious constitution to Pakistan, free from exploitation of minorities and deprived classes. Similarly, had Benazir Bhutto lived longer, she might have built a more secure and harmonious Pakistan based on a grand reconciliation which she proposed and advocated before her unfortunate killing in the streets of the power centre of Rawalpindi in broad daylight. Ms Benazir Bhutto had returned to Pakistan with the mission of reconciliation in a politically and religiously divided country. She wrote a book called 'Reconciliation', preaching a long-lasting pact of peaceful coexistence between the warring ideologies. In her philosophical but equally practical formula of grand reconciliation, she referred to and quoted examples from across the globe to prove that conflict can be transformed into peaceful coexistence through dialogue. Benazir Bhutto, who was educated at Oxford University and trained under the traditional British parliamentary practices, initially believed that debate and talks could settle and resolve contentious issues. But with her practical experience in her own country and learning from abroad, she perhaps realised that settled societies like Britain can resolve issues through dialogue without compromising their principled positions. But in unsettled societies like the Middle East, India and Pakistan, the warring rivals have to make sacrifices and compromises to reach reconciliation. These groups might have to sacrifice their principled positions as well. One could say that such efforts at reconciliation were also practised by Israeli politician and philosopher and two-time prime minister Ishaq Rabin (Yitzhak Rabin). Rabin was instrumental in finalising the historic Oslo Accord that suggested a two-state solution for a peaceful and sustainable coexistence between Israel and Palestine. Rabin had met Benazir Bhutto, and both exchanged views on regional and international politics – though it is important to note that Benazir Bhutto strongly supported the Palestinian cause. Ultimately, she did proceed towards a reconciliation between the establishment and the PPP. I am also privy to Benazir Bhutto’s desire to sit with her ideological rival from Jamaat-e-Islami, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, to pave the way for establishing a working relationship. Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Amir ul Azeem was part of this informal communication. I personally brought Bhutto’s message to the Jamaat-e-Islami leadership. Qazi Sahib had consented to this meeting, but her unfortunate murder spoiled this golden opportunity to bridge the gap between two conflicting ideologies. Had Benazir Bhutto been lucky enough to have survived the second consecutive attack on her life, we might have seen a more harmonious and more peaceful Pakistan. She believed in the reconciliation of ideas rather than the clash of ideas. In the last years of her life, she seemed to act like a mystic who loves all and hates none. She had been a fighter in all her political life, but in her last days, she was peace and reconciliation personified. Benazir Bhutto’s reconciliation with General Musharraf is still very unpopular in Pakistan and is considered a dirty power deal. Guaranteed and patronised by the US and the British establishments, it was the best solution in those critical times of the war against terror. Named the NRO, the agreement was a pact between Musharraf and a popular political party for the transition to democracy through fair and free elections. It was patterned on the Oslo Accords and the Mandela Model. But this pact couldn’t work because General Musharraf backed out. Ironically, the harshest critic of the NRO, Imran Khan, now seeks the same kind of settlement from the army leadership. The prime demand of the PTI is to release Imran Khan, which means withdrawing all the pending cases against him. Isn’t that another NRO? Unfortunately, the powers that be always create Frankensteins to counter their political enemies. But they forget the universal lesson that Frankenstein's monsters ultimately kill their own creators. Benazir Bhutto was accused by her opponents of corruption and having foreign currency accounts in Switzerland. Subsequently, she had to spend the worst time of her life, facing cases at home and abroad. Ultimately, she was sentenced by a Pakistani court (whose judge was later thrown out of the judiciary for committing injustice at the behest of then-prime minister Nawaz Sharif) and red warrants from Interpol were sought against her. Her reputation was damaged a lot, but she fought back against all the odds, and eventually, all the cases against her were withdrawn unconditionally. She returned to Pakistan with a clean slate and radiating victory. But Frankenstein's monsters once again struck at their creators. The Sharif family also came under fire for corruption charges, foreign bank accounts, and kickbacks. Though many cases have already been decided in the Sharifs' favour, they still suffer a loss of reputation. The moral of the story is that whoever digs a pit for others, eventually falls himself into it. Imran Khan’s social media brigade is a new Frankenstein's monster, and if he doesn’t control it, that brigade will attack him as well. Seventeen years have passed since we lost Benazir Bhutto, who used to advocate for reconciliation. But we are getting farther and farther away from reconciliation. And as a result, we are literally drowning in a deep sea of hatred and infighting. We couldn’t benefit from Benazir Bhutto’s recipe of reconciliation, which is the only way out. But this recipe can only be effective if each party involved is ready to sacrifice its stated position. People have been cruel to the real heroes of their times, be they truthful prophets or visionary politicians. Ishaq Rabin was the greatest benefactor of the Jews and wanted a sustainable and peaceful Israel by giving a two-state solution. But the extremists killed their own visionary leader. Since his killing in 1995, Israel has been at war and will remain entangled in the flames of war until and unless the Oslo Accords are fully implemented. Benazir Bhutto was also killed by fundamentalists, although she wanted peace and tranquillity for future generations as well. The writer is the editor of Jang in Lahore, an anchor, and the executive director at Geo TV.
Every time generative artificial intelligence drafts an e-mail or conjures up an image, the planet pays for it. Making two images can consume as much energy as charging a smartphone; a single exchange with ChatGPT can heat up a server so much that it requires a bottle's worth of water to cool. At scale, these costs soar. By 2027, the global AI sector could annually consume as much electricity as the Netherlands, according to one recent estimate . And a new study in Nature Computational Science identifies another concern : AI's outsize contribution to the world's mounting heap of electronic waste. The study found that generative AI applications alone could add 1.2 million to five million metric tons of this hazardous trash to the planet by 2030, depending on how quickly the industry grows. Such a contribution would add to the tens of millions of tons of electronic products the globe discards annually. Cell phones, microwave ovens, computers and other ubiquitous digital products often contain mercury, lead or other toxins. When improperly discarded, they can contaminate air, water and soil. The United Nations found that in 2022 about 78 percent of the world's e-waste wound up in landfills or at unofficial recycling sites, where laborers risk their health to scavenge rare metals. The worldwide AI boom rapidly churns through physical data storage devices, plus the graphics processing units and other high-performance components needed to process thousands of simultaneous calculations. This hardware lasts anywhere from two to five years — but it's often replaced as soon as newer versions become available. Asaf Tzachor, a sustainability researcher at Israel's Reichman University, who co-authored the new study, says its findings emphasize the need to monitor and reduce this technology's environmental impacts. To calculate just how much generative AI contributes to this problem, Tzachor and his colleagues examined the type and volume of hardware used to run large language models, the length of time that these components last and the growth rate of the generative AI sector. The researchers caution that their prediction is a gross estimate that could change based on a few additional factors. More people might adopt generative AI than the authors' models anticipate, for example. Hardware design innovations, meanwhile, could reduce e-waste in a given AI system — but other technological advances can make systems cheaper and more accessible to the public, increasing the number in use. Related: New memory chip controlled by light and magnets could one day make AI computing less power-hungry This study's biggest value comes from its attention to AI's broad environmental impacts, says Shaolei Ren, a researcher at the University of California, Riverside, who studies responsible AI and was not involved in the new research. "We might want these [generative AI] companies to slow down a bit," he says. Few countries mandate the proper disposal of e-waste, and those that do often fail to enforce their existing laws on it. Twenty-five U.S. states have e-waste management policies, but there is no federal law that requires electronics recycling. In February Democratic Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts introduced a bill that would require federal agencies to study and develop standards for AI's environmental impacts, including e-waste. But that bill, the Artificial Intelligence Environmental Impacts Act of 2024 (which has not passed the Senate), would not force AI developers to cooperate with its voluntary reporting system. Some companies, however, claim to be taking independent action. Microsoft and Google have pledged to reach net zero waste and net zero emissions respectively by 2030; this would likely involve reducing or recycling AI-related e-waste. Sign up for the Live Science daily newsletter now Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox. — Scientists design new 'AGI benchmark' that indicates whether any future AI model could cause 'catastrophic harm' — Large language models not fit for real-world use, scientists warn — even slight changes cause their world models to collapse — AI 'can stunt the skills necessary for independent self-creation': Relying on algorithms could reshape your entire identity without you realizing Companies that use AI have numerous options to limit e-waste. It's possible to squeeze more life out of servers, for instance, through regular maintenance and updates or by shifting worn-out devices to less-intensive applications. Refurbishing and reusing obsolete hardware components can also cut waste by 42 percent, Tzachor and his co-authors note in the new study. And more efficient chip and algorithm design could reduce generative AI's demand for hardware and electricity. Combining all these strategies would reduce e-waste by 86 percent, the study authors estimate. There's another wrinkle as well: AI products tend to be trickier to recycle than standard electronics because the former often contain a lot of sensitive customer data, says Kees Baldé, an e-waste researcher at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, who wasn't involved with the new study. But big tech companies can afford to both erase that data and properly dispose of their electronics, he points out. "Yes, it costs something," he says of broader e-waste recycling, "but the gains for society are much larger." This article was first published at Scientific American . © ScientificAmerican.com . All rights reserved. Follow on TikTok and Instagram , X and Facebook .
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