Possible Conflict Between Israel, Iran Threatens Middle East

Alexander Gale
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Possible Conflict Between Israel, Iran Threatens Middle East
IDF
A possible conflict between Iran and Israel is worrying some international affairs analysts. Credit: Israeli Defense Forces Spokesperson’s Unit / Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

Amidst ongoing combat in Gaza, tensions between Israel and Iran have risen to such a degree that many international affairs observers are worried a wider conflict could ignite in the Middle East.

Iran has long been at odds with Israel and its chief ally, the United States, since the ascendency of the theocratic Islamic regime in Iran in 1979.

Heightening the sense of apprehension in the region was a statement issued by US President Joe Biden on Friday that he is expecting Iran to attack Israel “sooner than later.”

Is a conflict brewing between Israel and Iran?

The primary catalyst for a possible conflict is an airstrike attributed to Israel on April 1st which killed several members of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps( IRGC).

Tehran has claimed an Israeli airstrike targeted its embassy complex in Syria. The Iranian government has vowed to take retaliatory action. Among the dead was Mohammed Reza Zahed, a senior officer of the IRGC and the most high-profile Iranian commander killed since IRGC Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani was assassinated by the US in Baghdad in 2020.

In the aftermath of the incident and in response to subsequent allegations, the Israeli government said it did not comment on foreign reports. However, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told media: “According to our intelligence, this is no consulate and this is no embassy…This is a military building of Quds forces disguised as a civilian building in Damascus.”

In any case, Israel is now braced for an attack by Iran. “Over the past day, the military has conducted a situational assessment and approved plans for a range of scenarios following reports and statements on an Iranian attack,” Rear Admiral Hagari said this Friday.

The nature of that anticipated attack is uncertain. Iran has a plethora of conventional and unconventional means it could use to target Israel. For example, it could orchestrate an aerial strike with drones or act through one of its many regional proxies.

War on a regional scale

Since Israel launched military operations in Gaza as a response to terrorist attacks conducted by Hamas on October 7th, defense and international affairs analysts have been worried about the latest round of the Israel-Palestine conflict spreading to the wider region.

For example, in February, the International Crisis Group warned that “while Israel’s assault on the strip persists, the risks of all-out war or other growing instability remain high.”

Several regional actors are impacted by the fighting in Gaza. Included are neighboring Egypt and Jordan, which are most concerned about a mass exodus of Palestinian refugees into their countries. The governments of Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq are likewise nervously looking on.

However, Iran is perhaps the most consequential potential participant in any regional widening of the conflict. This is due to a blend of factors including Iran’s strong rhetoric in support of the Palestinian cause, its long-term rivalry with Israel and the US, and an extensive network of proxy militias operating in the region.

Given the long-term strategic rivalry between Iran and Israel, the April 1st airstrike in Syria has been just one of many potential sparks for a conflict. Whether that spark results in a full-blown fire remains to be seen.

Continued “hybrid war” is more likely than a full-blown conflict

Despite the sharp rhetoric and plausible risks of a wider regional war, neither Iran nor Israel likely wants to engage in an all-out war with one another. A more likely scenario is that a heightened exchange of violence will occur between the two countries below the threshold of open warfare.

This is chiefly because the risks associated with a conventional war for both are immense, but this is particularly true for Iran. An open war with Israel would almost certainly result in US intervention, which could very well result in regime change in Tehran. For this reason, Iran will likely try to target Israel in a way that is damaging but does not risk an escalation to war.

Such strategies are referred to by a variety of names by military and international affairs theorists, including “hybrid war” or the “gray zone.” One explanation of this concept is that “hybrid warfare entails an interplay or fusion of conventional as well as unconventional instruments of power and tools of subversion. These instruments or tools are blended in a synchronized manner to exploit the vulnerabilities of an antagonist and achieve synergistic effects.”

Hybrid warfare involves the use of military and non-military means, as well as violent and non-violent actions to degrade an enemy’s capabilities. There are two major points to bear in mind. Firstly, Iran has adeptly used hybrid warfare in the past to achieve its objectives, and secondly, the combined military might of Israel and the US is a strong incentive for Iran to avoid an all-out conventional war.

Making any kind of predictions about future geopolitical events is a difficult and uncertain business. Nevertheless, for the reasons outlined above, a form of hybrid war will likely intensify between Israel and Iran with an all-out conventional conflict being less likely. The major caveat to this assessment is that a miscalculation of any sort could lead to an unintended escalation.

The Greek Myth That Inspired Tolkien

Alexander Gale
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The Greek Myth That Inspired Tolkien
Atlantis
Tolkien was inspired by the Greek myth of Atlantis. Credit: Віщун, / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

British author J. R. R. Tolkien is beloved worldwide as the father of the literary fantasy genre, having written the immensely popular The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit, as well as several posthumous works further exploring Middle Earth edited by his son Christopher.

Tolkien is best known for his “worldbuilding”, that is to say, the creation of rich and fantastical settings for his books, complete with fictional languages such as Quenya and Sindarin.

The lore of Middle Earth was most heavily inspired by Northern European mythology and history, especially that of the Anglo-Saxons and Norse, which is unsurprising given Tolkien’s philological studies of Old English.

However, one of the stories most central to Tolkien’s literary creation is the tale of Númenor, and it is this which bears a striking resemblance to the ancient Greek myth of Atlantis.

Númenor: Tolkien’s retelling of an ancient Greek myth

According to research by the scholar Maria do Rosário Monteiro, “Tolkien’s description of the drowning of Númenor undoubtedly echoes that of Atlantis?” So, how exactly do these two tales compare?

In Tolkien’s writings, Númenor is described as an ancient kingdom located on a large island to the west of Middle Earth. It is inhabited by the greatest human civilization to have existed and is essentially an idyllic utopia ruled by wise kings. The island itself was a gift presented by the Valar – angelic godlike figures – to the ancestors of the Númenóreans as a reward for facing the Dark Lord Morgoth in battle.

However, over time, the Númenórean civilization is corrupted. The trouble started when the last king of Númenor, Ar-Pharazôn, defeated Sauron, the lieutenant of Morgoth, and brought him back as a prisoner to the island kingdom. Sauron, who was remarkably deceitful, managed to convince the Númenórean king that he could live eternally if only he worshiped Morgoth as a god.

Consequently, the Númenóreans ceased their worship of Eru Ilúvatar, the One God in Tolkien’s mythos, and disaster ensues. For their hubris and corruption, they were punished with the sinking of their island. Only a few of the virtuous Númenóreans escaped to Middle Earth, where they founded the kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor.

Striking similarities to Atlantis

The parallels between the ancient Greek myth of Atlantis and Númenor are abundant. Both, at their essence, are cautionary tales against hubris, resulting in the demise of an entire civilization.

Like Númenor, Atlanis is initially described by Plato as an island utopia. The island itself was said to be located beyond the Pillars of Heracles, presumably in the Atlantic Ocean, and was “larger than Libya and Asia together.”

The Atlanteans were an advanced people, divinely favored by the sea god Poseidon. Their island home was the site of several architectural marvels and they used their maritime prowess to establish a vast overseas empire.

However, like the Númenóreans, the Atlanteans grew greedy and immoral. They were eventually defeated by the ancient Athenians in battle and were subjected to total annihilation when Atlantis sank beneath the waves. Quoting Timaeus, Plato wrote of Atlantis:

“But afterwards there occurred violent earthquakes and floods; and in a single day and night of misfortune all your warlike men in a body sank into the earth, and the island of Atlantis in like manner disappeared in the depths of the sea. For which reason the sea in those parts is impassable and impenetrable, because there is a shoal of mud in the way; and this was caused by the subsidence of the island”

Tolkien dreamed of Atlantis

As explained by Dr. Philip Irving Mitchell, a Professor of English, Tolkien had a recurring nightmare in which he dreamed of the final apocalyptic fate of Atlantis. In 1964, Tolkien described the dream in a letter to Christopher Bretherton:

“This legend or myth or dim memory of some ancient history has always troubled me. In sleep I had the dreadful dream of the ineluctable Wave, either coming out of the quiet sea, or coming in towering over the green inlands. It still occurs occasionally, though now exorcized by writing about it. It always ends by surrender, and I wake gasping out of deep water. I used to draw it or write bad poems about it.”

“The Atlantis myth had an obvious personal meaning to Tolkien,” comments Dr. Mitchell. “He considered it a possible racial memory descended down though his family. It also represented to him an embodiment of certain European longings.”

Emblematic Ancient Theater of Delphi To Undergo New Restoration

Paula Tsoni
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Emblematic Ancient Theater of Delphi To Undergo New Restoration
Temple of Apollo at Delphi, Greece
The emblematic ancient Greek theater of Delphi, where the Pythian Games took place in antiquity. Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports

The emblematic ancient Greek theater of Delphi in Central Greece, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, will undergo new restoration and preservation works, scheduled to conclude in 2027.

Situated within the Temple of Pythian Apollo, on the slopes of Mount Parnassus, the theater of Delphi was the intellectual and artistic equivalent to the athletic stadium at Olympia, as this is where the musical contests of the Pythian games and other religious festivals took place in antiquity.

The theater could seat five thousand spectators.

Delphi theater’s new restoration to address chronic challenges

Although excavated and restored, the theater has been in poor condition, according to the Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports’ archaeological sites online database.

The cavea of the theater has subsided, the limestone blocks are cracking and flaking, and many of its architectural members, such as seats and blocks of the parodoi walls, remain scattered throughout the temenos.

The new preservation works will first deal with the geological pathology of the area, which sits on a tectonic fault line, and, secondly, on the impact of climate change on the site’s soil. The soil is prone to erosion and sedimentation.

Delphi theatre blocks
Damaged blocks will be restored during preservation works at the ancient theater of Delphi. Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports

It will then attempt to restore and fix some of the damaged blocks, as well as reconstruct the destroyed east part of the theater with the addition of about a hundred new blocks.

Culture and Sports Minister Lina Mendoni commented that the aim is to boost the theater’s function as an important cultural destination and resource for development, at local and national levels, but also to preserve the character of Delphi as a landmark for world culture.

An ancient site of unique importance and impact

As described by UNESCO, the archaeological site of Delphi bears a unique testimony to the religion and civilization of ancient Greece but also had an immense impact throughout the ancient world.

Mycenaean remains show that the area was inhabited in the 2nd millennium BC, but the development of the sanctuary and oracle of Apollo, the Olympian god of light, knowledge, and harmony, began in the 8th century BC.

The religious and political influence of the site of Delphi over the whole of Greece increased during classical antiquity, while its fame spread to the rest of the ancient world, attracting worshippers from faraway lands.

Aerial view of Delphi theatre
About a hundred new blocks will be added to restore the destroyed east part of the ancient Greek theater of Delphi. Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports

The theater’s present form with its stone-paved orchestra, stone seats, and decorated stage is the result of a 160/159 BC restoration sponsored by Eumenes II of Pergamon, according to archaeologist Rosina Kolonia.

However, the theater’s original form is unknown. It is possible spectators sat on wooden seats or on the ground before the first stone-built theater was constructed in the fourth century BC and was subsequently refurbished several times.

A place of celebration “reflecting triumphant Hellenism”

The Delphi Theater and the Stadium, where the Pythian Games took place every four years, were “places of community celebrations reflecting triumphant Hellenism,” UNESCO states.

According to Kolonia’s description of the Delphi theater, the cavea is divided into two uneven sections by a paved diazoma, or landing, consisting of twenty-seven tiers of seats in the lower section and seven in the upper. It is then divided vertically by a series of staircases into six and seven cunei for the upper and lower sections respectively.

Aerial view of Delphi theatre
A new restoration will address chronic geological and preservation challenges at the ancient Greek theater of Delphi. Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports

The horse-shoe-shaped orchestra is surrounded by an enclosed conduit. Its pavement and parapet are Roman. Inscriptions relevant to the emancipation of slaves are embedded in the walls of the parodoi, but their texts have become illegible through wear.

The stage, of which only the foundations remain, was probably divided into the proscenium and the stage proper, and its front was adorned with a relief frieze depicting the Labors of Hercules.

EIB Announces 220 Euro Loan to Greece for Civil Protection

Paula Tsoni
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EIB Announces 220 Euro Loan to Greece for Civil Protection
Firefighting aircraft flying above forest land covered in smoke.
A 220 million euro loan to Greece by the EIB will be used to buy state-of-the-art equipment for the Hellenic Fire Service, among others. Credit: AMNA

A 220 million euro loan to Greece was announced on Friday by the European Investment Bank to fund civil protection from floods, wildfires, and other natural disasters, such as earthquakes.

The loan is part of the EIB Group’s EU-wide Climate Adaptation Plan and follows an initial loan to Greece of 375 million euros in January 2021, which brings the total EIB support for Greek civil protection and disaster preparedness to 595 million euros.

The two fundings, in 2021 and 2024, represent the first targeted direct EIB support for civil protection and disaster preparedness in Greece and is the largest amount of EIB aid for disaster management and response in Europe.

A plan to restructure civil protection in Greece

Greece was hit by deadly wildfires in 2017 and 2018, while further devastating wildfires swept the country in 2021 and 2023, followed by catastrophic flooding in September 2023.

“This support will help the country respond more quickly and effectively when disaster strikes, protect lives, and better prepare for natural disasters and pandemics,” said EIB Vice-President Kyriacos Kakouris.

The funding from the EIB will be used to materialize the multi-year Greek “Aegis” plan to strengthen the country’s civil protection mechanism through the acquisition of fire engines, firefighting planes and helicopters, drones, rescue vehicles, and the operation of control centers.

The program, to be implemented until 2025, aspires to restructure civil protection in Greece to enable quicker responses, strengthen local preparedness and coordination, and improved equipment.

“It is a significant, emblematic program for which Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis secured funds worth €2.1 billion euros with the aim of upgrading the civil protection and protecting the country against the natural disasters caused by the rapidly evolving climate crisis across the planet” said Greek Minister of Crisis Management and Civil Protection Vassilis Kikilias.

All of the projects have been put to tender, and are progressing to the next stage, their contractualization, he added.

New equipment and regional civil protection teams

The new support covers state-of-the-art equipment for the Hellenic Fire Service, including helicopters and aircraft to fight wildfires and conduct evacuations in medical emergencies, says the EIB announcement.

Disaster prevention, preparedness, and response will be transformed by the creation of 13 regional civil protection teams and new communications networks and information-technology systems across the country.

Experts from the Greek government and EIB have been working together since the 2021 loan agreement and will continue to do so under the new funding accord to use best practices from across Europe.

“The EIB, through its Advisory Services Hub, and the Greek authorities will share best practices during the implementation of the investments and enable experience from this visionary scheme to benefit future projects backed by the EIB elsewhere,” said Kakouris.

Multiple Dead in Sydney Shopping Mall Stabbing Attack

Alexander Gale
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Multiple Dead in Sydney Shopping Mall Stabbing Attack
police line
A stabbing attack took place on Saturday at a shopping mall in Sydney, Australia. Credit: Tony Webster / Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0

At least five people have been killed during an attack at a shopping mall in Sydney, Australia with multiple reported stabbings. Nine people may have been stabbed in total.

The suspected attacker was reportedly shot dead by a police officer. The Australian police force has assured the public there is “no continuing threat” and the attacker “acted alone.”

Hundreds of people were evacuated from the Westfield Bondi Junction mall complex, where the stabbing attack took place. The area remains locked down, and the authorities have urged people to avoid the area.

Australian authorities respond to Sydney stabbing attack

The Australian police force reported that a lone unit officer in close proximity to the scene took responsibility for disarming and shooting the suspected attacker.

“She confronted the offender who had moved by this stage to level 5,” Assistant Commissioner Anthony Cooke, told journalists this morning.

“As she continued to walk quickly behind him to catch up with him, he turned, faced her, raised a knife. She discharged a firearm, and that person is now deceased,” he added.

“She is certainly a hero,” said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in praise of the police officer who confronted the attack. “There is no doubt that she saved lives through her action. And it is a reminder that those people who wear uniform are people who rush to danger, not away from it. And I give thanks to every, every one of them, for the actions that they’ve taken up to now and the actions that they will take over the coming days, which will be a difficult period as well. Thank you.”

Cooke was asked whether the police had identified any motivations for the attack, but he responded that they were still conducting their investigation.

In recent years, terror attacks have increasingly involved the use of crude weapons, such as knives or even vehicles. However, it is important to stress that the motive behind the attack is not yet known, so it cannot be confirmed or denied whether this was an act of terrorism.

Eyewitness accounts

Some eyewitness accounts of the fatal stabbing attack in Sydney have already been shared by international media outlets.

Johnny, a 33-year-old man who was visiting the area from  New South Wales Central Coast, witnessed the attack from within the shopping center. He heard a disturbance and turned to see a woman and her baby being assaulted.

“She was getting stabbed. Everyone was in shock [and] didn’t know what to do,” he said. Johnny also described seeing what he thought was a body on the floor.

The wounded woman was able to rush towards a nearby Tommy Hilfiger, locking the doors shut behind her when she got inside.

“Some of the other shoppers were using clothing and things to try and…stop the bleeding,” the witness said. “The lady was pretty bad…there was a lot of blood and she was panicking…hopefully, she pulls through.”

Mysterious ‘Dragon’s Egg’ Star Is a Magnetic Monster, Says Study

Abdul Moeed
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Mysterious ‘Dragon’s Egg’ Star Is a Magnetic Monster, Says Study
Enigmatic Binary star HD 148937 in the Dragon's Egg nebula
Enigmatic binary star HD 148937 in the Dragon’s Egg nebula. Credit: ESO/VPHAS+ team. Credit: CASU

Scientists have uncovered a cosmic secret. There were three stars called HD 148937. Now, only two remain. They appear unusual because they used to be part of a trio.

Researchers discovered that two of these stars collided, forming the stunning Dragon’s Egg nebula where they now reside. These stars, though, are an odd couple, linked by gravity in a unique celestial phenomenon.

Astronomer Abigail Frost from KU Leuven in Belgium and the European Southern Observatory in Chile expressed her fascination with the system.

She noted that it’s uncommon to find a nebula encircling two big stars, sparking curiosity about what might have occurred in this particular system. Upon analyzing the data, the intrigue only grew, according to Frost.

Each star may form a black hole after dying

Situated approximately 3,800 light-years away from Earth, this system comprises two immense stars revolving around each other in a 26-year cycle.

These stars are hefty, with one weighing about 29.9 times the mass of the Sun, while the other is around 26.6 times as massive. Based on this theory, these stars are so large that they’re expected to transform into black holes when they reach the end of their lifecycle.

The larger star in this duo holds a strange characteristic. Prior studies indicate that it possesses a magnetic field. This is quite unusual because stars exceeding approximately seven times the mass of the Sun typically lack the convective interiors necessary to sustain a magnetic field, unlike smaller stars.

This anomaly intrigued Frost and her team. They delved into nine years’ worth of observational data on the system, gathered using the ESO’s Very Large Telescope, along with archival data from the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope. This comprehensive analysis enabled them to thoroughly understand the stars and their orbital dynamics, as reported by ScienceAlert.

Two stars in the same binary system normally have similar age

Upon closer examination, the researchers observed an anomaly. Typically, two massive stars in a binary system like this would be of similar age, originating from the same stellar nursery around the same period.

However, upon analyzing the chemical composition of the stars, which provides insights into their age, they discovered a notable contrast. The larger star seemed to be approximately 2.7 million years old, while its smaller companion appeared to be at least 4.1 million years old. This age gap is quite significant, as reported by ScienceAlert.

The presence of the nebula adds another layer to the research. Estimated to be around 7,500 years old, its existence is already unusual. Typically, nebulas like this form as stars approach the end of their lives. However, both stars at the core of this nebula are still in their prime.

Moreover, the nebula contains a significant amount of nitrogen, carbon, and oxygen—elements usually confined within stars rather than floating freely outside them.

One possible explanation for the magnetic properties of the massive stars is the merger of two smaller stars. Such an event could scatter internal star material into the surrounding space. Collectively, these findings strongly suggest that a merger of two smaller stars indeed occurred in the case of HD 148937, according to ScienceAlert.

The Wound That Nearly Killed Alexander the Great

Philip Chrysopoulos
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The Wound That Nearly Killed Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great was nearly killed by a grievous wound in 326 BC. Credit: Public Domain

Alexander the Great died at age 32 after falling ill with a high fever following a night of heavy drinking. Twelve days later, the legendary general succumbed, leaving behind a vast empire unlike any other before.

More than 2,300 years later, scientists and historians are still trying to determine the nature of his illness and what caused it. It was all so sudden that some historians believe he could have been poisoned.

There is an inescapable irony that a king so renowned for leading his troops in battle from the front met his demise in bed at age 32. Whether he was poisoned by conspirators or died of alcohol poisoning or some other cause will never be known.

Yet, in 2018 a group of Greek surgeons (Efstratios Apostolakis, Nikolaos A. Papakonstantinou, Nikolaos G. Baikoussis, and Georgia Apostolaki) took the task of researching the cause of death of the great stratelates and wrote a paper with the title Alexander the Great’s Life-Threatening Thoracic Trauma, published in the Korean Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.

The paper details the wound that Alexander had suffered that should have killed the Macedonian king.

Drawing from the accounts of historian and Alexander‘s biographer Arrian of Nicomedia, the Greek surgeons discovered the specific wound that Alexander suffered in a battle in what is now Pakistan, along with how ancient battlefield medicine treated it. He was lucky to have regained consciousness, let alone survive, the doctors claim, concluding that it was a fatal case of tension pneumothorax.

According to the US National Library of Medicine, tension pneumothorax is a life-threatening emergency wherein a large air collection in the pleural space compromises respiration and cardiac function.

“There is no part of my body free from wounds”

In many battles, Alexander the Great fought on the front line alongside his soldiers. In his book The Anabasis of Alexander the Great, Arrian of Nicomedia describes the young Macedonian king clashing with the Persians next to his men during the Battle of Granicus.

In earlier battles, generals were forced to scold Alexander for throwing himself against the enemy as a regular soldier defying danger. In one battle, general Parmenion saved the young king from the hands of a Persian who was ready to slay him by cutting the enemy’s arm.

Alexander’s zeal to fight cost him many injuries, some of them serious. At Granicus, he was hit in the head by a sword that knocked his helmet off. In the same battle, he was hit with a missile that pierced his shield and lodged in his shoulder.

Rather than being deterred, Alexander used those wounds in a speech to inspire his soldiers to cross the Indus River:

“There is no part of my body, in front at any rate, remaining free from wounds, nor is there any kind of weapon used either for close combat or for hurling at the enemy, the traces of which I do not bear on my person.”

As if pain was a concept unknown to him, the great commander soldiered on, fighting battle after battle, thus forging one of antiquity’s greatest empires.

The wound that nearly killed Alexander the Great

While throwing himself fearlessly into battle, there was one that nearly cost the Macedonian king his life.

Before crossing the Indus River, the men of Alexander’s army were disillusioned from the many casualties, the hardships, and the harsh Asian climate. It took the inspirational speech of their great leader to convince them to continue.

After crossing Indus, the Macedonians came face to face with the Mallians of Punjab, in modern-day Pakistan. The Mallians refused to allow Alexander’s army to cross through their territory leading to a conflict that lasted almost four months.

The Mallians had an army of 50,000 men, a sizeable force that was not easy to confront. Yet the Macedonian army fought them and forced them to retreat to their citadel with a wall of a mile-long perimeter.

After the Macedonians made their way into the outer parts of the citadel and started undermining the next layer of walls, Alexander grew impatient, grabbed a ladder, and climbed it himself with only two soldiers following him. Others started climbing the ladder to protect him, but the ladder broke due to their weight.

The Mallians recognized the king and attacked him immediately. His soldiers called to him, urging him to jump down to them. Alexander did not. Instead, he leaped down to the inner area and started cutting down the Mallians with his sword, killing their leader.

The Mallians started shooting arrows at Alexander and one of them hit the king in his left breast. Alexander kept fighting even though he was bleeding profusely until he finally collapsed on his shield. Meanwhile, more Macedonians had entered the city. Upon seeing Alexander lying on his shield they thought he was dead. In a rage, they started killing every Mallian on site.

After realizing that Alexander was alive, they ran back taking the unconscious king to a tent to remove the arrow. General Perdiccas volunteered to make the incision to remove the tip of the arrow. Then they moved the king to the camp to recover.

Since the largest part of his army was still away, rumors spread that the king was dead. The soldiers became desperate and despondent. They wondered who would become their new leader to safely lead them back to Greece. Arrian wrote that upon the rumors of his death, “at first there arose a sound of lamentation from the entire army, as one man handed the rumor on to another. When they ceased their lamentation, they became spiritless, and felt perplexed as to the man who was to become the leader of the army…as if “everything was difficult, if not impossible, without Alexander.”

However, a still-living and awake Alexander the Great was put on a boat to sail on a nearby river to show his army that he was alive. When the rest of the army was informed that the king was alive, they couldn’t believe it. When they saw him, some ran near him to touch him or his clothes to confirm that he was alive indeed.

Modern-day surgeons and the thorax wound

Based on historical accounts, the modern-day Greek surgeons who wrote the article believe the arrow pierced Alexander’s thorax on his left breast, entering the thoracic wall and puncturing the lung.

In The Anabasis of Alexander the Great, Arrian describes symptoms of dizziness and swooning. From that, the surgeons inferred that Alexander’s lung collapsed, which is a life-threatening condition that would send anyone to the intensive care unit.

The surgeons called this tension pneumothorax, which would lead to a drop in blood pressure, and cause Alexander to lose consciousness, as historians reported. When he fell onto his shield, it closed the air leak, which allowed him to wake up.

The arrow was lodged in the king’s breastplate, and the point in the space between his muscle tissue and his heart. Removing it risked breaking Alexander’s ribs and causing internal bleeding. Nevertheless, it was removed. The body of the arrow was torn away and then an incision was made using a sword. The arrowhead was cut out of the king’s chest, which caused severe hemorrhaging and he fell unconscious.

The historical accounts do not mention how Alexander managed to survive the wound or how long it took him to recover since there is no medical data.

The surgeons note that the shape of the arrowhead prevented it from going further into Alexander’s body than the lung. If it had, it would have penetrated his heart and the king would have died. No record of his recovery exists, but the doctors also note that if his remains were discovered, evidence of this wound would surely be visible in his left rib cage.

SYRIZA Leader Vows to Close Gap With New Democracy

Matthew Norman
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SYRIZA Leader Vows to Close Gap With New Democracy
Stefanos Kasselakis joined the Greek Army on Friday
Stefanos Kasselakis, the Syriza leader. Credit: AMNA

SYRIZA leader Stefanos Kasselakis told the Delphi Economic Forum that his party will close the gap with ruling New Democracy and “shock Europe and the country” in the upcoming European Parliament elections.

The main opposition party leader said it was his responsibility “for the renewed SYRIZA to put forth a new governance team as well as program.” When asked about the state of the economy, Kasselakis highlighted that while Greece’s fiscal stability in terms of debt-to-GDP was “positive,” the country’s convergence with the European Union has been “despicable.”

He claimed Greek taxes are as high as in Sweden, and that Greeks have a purchasing power just above that of Bulgarians and see very little private investment in their country. On the war in Ukraine, Kasseslakis said he is in favor of Greece providing humanitarian aid but not military equipment to Kyiv.

Kasselakis since taking over leadership of Syriza

Kasselakis started his brief military service in an army barrack in Thebes in March. He received basic military training for twenty days.

Military service is mandatory for all Greek males. Kasselakis had been exempt from military service, as he had been residing in the US since age fourteen. When he returned to Greece, he had two options. He could either spend six months in the military or serve for three weeks and buy off the rest of his time.

While it has a sizeable number of professional troops, Greece’s military is still conscription-based with service in most cases set at twelve months.

Before entering the army barracks, he was welcomed by locals in the the central square of Thebes, where he was offered gifts and wished well. Some said it was their honor to have the leader of the opposition in the town.

“It is an honor to be here to serve my country as an expatriate who has returned to contribute to his country,” Kasselakis said.

In March, he posted a video on TikTok with an “army-style” haircut. The video begins with Kasselakis holding his dog, Farley, and saying, “I’m going to miss her.” The hairdresser asks how he would like his hair done and he replies: “SYRIZA,” which, in Greek, means very short and to the roots.

When asked about the parting of his hair, he says: “Toward the left, where my heart beats.”
Kasselakis, 36, a former businessman without political experience who is gay, was the surprise winner at the SYRIZA elections held last September.

He took the reigns of the party a few months after the catastrophic election results in June and July 2023 after which the former leader and former PM Alexis Tsipras was forced to resign.

His meteoric rise to leadership had upset many left-wing traditionalists who accused him of “right-wing populism” and authoritarian practices.

On November 23, 2023, nine Members of Parliament (MPs), one Member of the European Parliament (MEP), and fifty-seven central committee members declared their departure from the political party in protest of Kasselakis’ leadership.

Notable figures among them included Effi Achtsioglou along with other former ministers. A few days later, previously resigned MPs Euclid Tsakalotos and Peti Perka joined forces with the nine MPs to announce the establishment of a new political entity called the “New Left.”

How to Extract Gold From E-Waste Using Old Milk

Tasos Kokkinidis
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How to Extract Gold From E-Waste Using Old Milk
Gold Milk
Burning the aerogel that had adsorbed and reduced gold from an e-waste solution produced this 0.5 g gold nugget with a purity of around 91%, corresponding to 21 to 22 carats. Credit: Raffaele Mezzenga/ETH Zurich

An aerogel made from old milk can extract highly pure gold nuggets from discarded computer motherboards.

Discarded electronics, known as e-waste, often contain large amounts of gold and other heavy metals. Scientists have come up with methods to recover the valuable metals, but these processes often rely on synthetic chemicals that can damage the environment.

Raffaele Mezzenga at ETH Zurich in Switzerland and his colleagues have developed a way to recover gold from e-waste by using a milk-derived aerogel.

He and his colleagues started with whey protein, a byproduct of the cheesemaking industry, and made a low-density aerogel. Making the spongelike material is cheap, he says. “The value of the gold we recover is 50 times the value we invest to transform the protein into this sponge.”

The researchers placed whey protein into an acidic solution and heated it, which unraveled the proteins from tiny balls into strands. Then they freeze-dried the solution, forming a lightweight puck with high porosity.

“You can place them on the top of a flower. And the advantage of having aerogels is that they have high surface area,” says Mohammad Peydayesh, a chemical engineer who’s also part of the research team at ETH Zurich.

The researchers tested the gel’s ability to adsorb gold from a solution also containing other metals—including copper, lead, and nickel—at the same concentration.

Aerogel from old milk sucked up 93 percent of the gold

The aerogel sucked up 93 percent of the gold while removing less than 10 percent of any of the other metals. To test the protein sponge with real e-waste, the team dissolved computer motherboards in aqua regia, a mix of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid.

Gold ions from the mixture settled on the surface of the aerogel and were reduced, forming metallic gold. Each gram of aerogel snatched 190 mg of gold. Burning the aerogel freed the gold, turning it into a tiny hunk of metal.

“It was really exciting to find this nugget in the ashes,” Peydayesh recalls. The nugget was about 91% gold, which corresponds to about 21 to 22 carats.

The method already presents an improvement over activated carbon, a more typical adsorption method used to recover gold. Each gram of activated carbon only adsorbed about 60 mg of gold from an e-waste mixture, the team found. Because it takes a lot of energy to create activated carbon, recovering the same amount of gold using activated carbon had a higher environmental impact in a life cycle analysis.

The team is already eyeing other food waste proteins, such as keratin and those from the production of tofu, that could potentially help with other needs, such as the recycling of rare earth metals.

“We can simultaneously address the global waste of food and e-waste to produce something really precious,” Peydayesh says.

Related: Gold Treasure Remains Unclaimed 150 Years After Ship Sinking

Greek Flag Proudly Raised in New York Prior to Annual Parade

Tasos Kokkinidis
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Greek Flag Proudly Raised in New York Prior to Annual Parade
Greek Parade New York
The Greek flag was proudly raised in Manhattan. Credit: Mayor of New York Eric Adams

On Friday, two days before the annual Greek parade in New York celebrating Greek Independence, the ceremony of raising the Greek flag at Bowling Green, Manhattan, took place as part of the official events.

The ceremony’s highlight was the presence of the Evzones of the Presidential Guard and the famous Mantzaros Philharmonic band of Corfu, who will also take part in the annual parade on New York 5th Avenue on Sunday, April 14th.

The Presidential Guard marched with the Greek American Community from St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church & National Shrine to Bowling Green.

New York Greek parade
The Greek Presidential Guard took part in the festivities. Credit: Greek Consulate New York

Mayor of New York Eric Adams said he was honored “to celebrate our Greek brothers and sisters.”

The parade on Sunday celebrates the 203rd anniversary of Greek Independence from the Ottoman Empire.

Thousands of Greek-Americans and others are expected to descend onto Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue to watch the traditional parade and participate in the festivities to mark the anniversary of the Greek revolution against the Ottoman Turks.

The annual event, a celebration of Hellenic identity, culture, and achievements in the world, is organized and hosted by the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, a non-profit organization committed to fostering an appreciation of Greek-American heritage and achievement.

Last year, George M. Logothetis, Executive Chairman of Libra Group, was the Grand Marshal of the parade, and he walked along Archibishop Elpidophoros, Greek Ambassador to the US Alexandra Papadopoulou, and other dignitaries.

“As a proud Greek-American, it is an honor to be named a Grand Marshal for New York’s Greek Independence Day Parade,” said Logothetis.

George Karlaftis will be the Grand Master of the New York Greek parade

George Karlaftis, who just won his second Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs, will be the Grand Master of the New York Parade.

George Karlaftis’ father, Matt, a javelin thrower, was a star in track and field at the University of Miami. His father, while attending graduate school, met his mother Amy at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Purdue has an unsung relationship with Greece and Greek-Americans.

George’s parents returned to Athens, where his father became a professor. The family had four children. Everything changed, however, when their father died of a heart attack while traveling for work at age forty-four. Within days, their mother, Amy, moved the children back to Indiana, where she had more support.

It was in Indiana that George, who played many sports in Greece, fell in love with American football.

Related: George Karlaftis: The Greek Freak of American Football?

 

 

 

 

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