EU AI Act: Did Europe Just Kill Its AI Development?

An AI depiction of the EU AI Act
The EU AI Act is a legislative milestone for the future of artificial intelligence. Credit: DALLE for the Greek Reporter

The European Parliament recently adopted the world’s first comprehensive regulation, known as the AI Act, on artificial intelligence.

According to EU officials, this landmark and historic piece of legislation aims to ensure that AI systems that are developed, sold, or used in the EU are safe, transparent, and in accordance with fundamental human rights.

While the AI Act is a very significant step towards responsible AI governance, some people around the world worry its strict requirements could stifle innovation and put Europe at a disadvantage in the global AI race. This could see geopolitical rivals such as China or even the US take a significant lead in the field.

EU’s AI Act takes risk-based approach to AI regulation

The European AI Act takes a fundamentally risk-based approach. It categorizes AI systems into four different levels: unacceptable, high, limited, and minimal risk.

It outright bans certain “unacceptable” AI practices, such as social scoring and real-time biometric identification in public spaces, across the European Union.

For “high-risk” AI used in critical areas for European societies such as healthcare, infrastructure, education, and law enforcement, the EU’s act imposes very strict requirements both on development and testing as well as in monitoring.

Even AI systems that interact with people in their everyday lives, such as chatbots and emotion recognition tools, will face severe transparency obligations if they aim to continue operating in Europe under the new rules.

Nonetheless, according to the new legislation, “limited” and “minimal” risk AI will be subject to much lighter requirements, focusing mainly on transparency and user information.

Strict requirements for high-risk AI in the EU

Providers of “high-risk” AI systems will have their work cut out for them in the EU under the AI Act. Before being put on the market and becoming a commercial commodity, these systems must undergo thorough assessments of conformity in order to get the green light. Providers of such services will also need to implement robust risk management systems, meet high data quality standards, and maintain detailed technical documentation that should always be available.

High-risk AI must also enable human oversight and continuously be monitored throughout its lifecycle to avoid dangerous and unwanted complications. If, despite these strict rules, incidents occur, providers will be legally obliged to report them to relevant European authorities, and citizens will have the right to file official complaints.

While these requirements clearly aim to protect the public from the unknown consequences of an uncontrolled AI development, some fear they could be overly burdensome, especially for smaller AI companies and startups that have neither the funds nor manpower to comply with all these regulations.

EU’s AI Act introduces rules for general purpose AI

The AI Act of the EU also includes dedicated rules aimed at foundational models, such as those behind OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Musk’s Grok.

These general-purpose AI systems, which can be adapted for various applications depending on their use case, will need to comply with transparency requirements regarding their training data, energy consumption, and potential copyright issues that they may encounter.

High-impact general-purpose AI will also face additional obligations. These will include issues such as conducting risk assessments that will help providers deal with potential undesirable eventualities.

However, there is still ongoing debate among MEPs and AI experts about whether these requirements are sufficient enough to mitigate the broader risks posed by increasingly powerful AI systems to our societies as a whole.

EU aims to balance innovation and enforcement in AI regulation

It’s not all doom and gloom, however. To help startups and small and medium-sized businesses navigate and survive the new rules, the AI Act introduces crucial “regulatory sandboxes.”

These sandboxes will work as areas where companies can develop and test their AI systems with useful guidance and support from suitably trained European authorities. Nonetheless, violations of the act following this initial stage can result in hefty fines of up to €30 million or six percent of a company’s global revenue.

Enforcement of these regulations will primarily fall to national authorities, as the EU does not have an EU-wide policing mechanism. Nevertheless, a new EU-level AI Office overseeing compliance and advising on AI policy will be established to support individual member-states with their new duties. Most of the rules will start taking effect in 2025 after a two-year transition period, though some provisions may come into force sooner, depending on the European Commission’s future decisions.

Will the EU’s AI Act hinder or help AI development?

The EU’s AI Act is a landmark piece of legislation that will undoubtedly shape the future of AI development in Europe and the world. It is among the first such efforts and, according to the European authorities, it seeks to strike a balance between protecting fundamental rights and public safety while still promoting innovation and competitiveness in the AI sector.

However, many things remain to be done to implement these additional rules and governance structures outlined in the act. Its effectiveness will largely depend on how well member states of the European Union enforce requirements and utilize resources provided by the EU to national authorities to support compliance with the new law.

As governments worldwide, including the US and China, find it difficult to keep up with the challenges of regulating astonishingly rapidly advancing AI technologies, the EU’s approach sets an important precedent, which you either support or not.

While some worry that the AI Act could hinder Europe’s AI ambitions and pose hurdles to wider AI development, others argue that responsible AI governance is fundamental and crucial for long-term success.

Only time will tell if Europe has struck the right balance with this groundbreaking legislation.

The Geometric Period in Ancient Greece and Its Impact on Western Civilization

Geometric Period crater, Ancient Greece
The Hirschfeld Krater, Ancient Greece, mid-8th century BC, from the late Geometric period, depicting ekphora, the act of carrying a body to its grave. National Archaeological Museum, Athens. Credit: Wikimedia Commons Ricardo André Frantz CC BY-SA 3.0

The Greek Geometric Period is a lesser known era in history. However, it ushered ancient Greece from the Dark Age to the Classical Period.

It was a period when Greek society was transformed and the proto-urban society re-appeared. This was a time of innovation. Influences from the Mycenaean past were still felt, while peoples from the Eastern Mediterranean migrated westwards.

Contact with Eastern peoples brought about social upheaval, as there was fast population growth, which, consequently, led to overcrowding and political tensions. These resulted in social, economic, and artistic changes.

These artistic changes in ancient Greece were manifested in the geometric motifs in decoration. The decorative forms, rectilinear, and curvilinear, were drawn on vases and pots with the aid of instruments. These are the main surviving works of art of the era. Hence, later historians conventionally named it the Geometric Period.

The Geometric Period was also the era in which Homer‘s epics the Iliad and Odyssey were written. These later served as the foundation of Western literature.

Opinions as to when the Geometric Period actually began differ among historians. Some place it around 1050 BC while others believe it was in 900 BC. They agree, however, on when it ended, placing it around 700 BC, when the Classical period started.

Geometric shapes influenced from Eastern cultures

Geometric shapes did not appear for the first time in art in the Geometric period. Triangles, squares, spirals, circles, and rhombi had been used in earlier cultures such as in Mesopotamian pottery during the 5th and 4th millennium BC. Even naturalistic subjects, such as landscapes and animals, were drawn with geometric patterns.

Similar patterns were adopted in other areas of West Asia and Asia Minor, but they were not limited in the Middle and Near East. In Central Europe and Greece, Neolithic pottery was decorated with geometric shapes, and so were many vessels of the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations.

However, what distinguishes Greek geometric art is the method of arrangement in the surface of the vessel. In previous ages, geometric patterns were instinctive linear symbols of a powerful and incomprehensible nature in a continuous and uncontrolled flow.

In Greek geometric art, there is harmony, rhythm, order, and reasonable natural balance rather than randomness. This is the first known outbreak of the great intellectual leap of Greece from which subsequent Greek thought and art were born.

Geometric Period clay pyxis
Geometric Period ceramic Pyxis exhibited at the Wadsworth Atheneum – Hartford, Connecticut, USA. Wikimedia Commons Public Domain

Geometric art was not limited to clay pots and vases. Works of art were created with bronze as well. Bronze human figurines, animals, and birds appeared, initially rare and clumsily made. However, as time passed, they became clearer as to their intent, i.e. depicting a warrior or a woman.

Different styles and workshops emerged depending on the region they were made, such as Attic, Laconian, Corinthian, etc. Characteristic examples are the figurines of horses, frequently represented on open work or solid bases. Many of the bases have patterns on the underside and were perhaps used as seals. Also pieces of jewelry such as pendants, fibulae, bracelets, etc. are found in various types.

Such minor bronze works have been found in graves as offerings. Apart from those, large bronze objects from the Geometric Period have been found. Excavations in sanctuaries have unearthed large tripod cauldrons with round handles adorned with figurines of warriors, charioteers, and animals from the 9th century BC. Their three high legs are decorated with zigzag lines, circles linked by tangents, spirals, etc.

Styles and themes of Geometric Period art

While the Geometric style was spread throughout the regions of the ancient Greek world, Attica had been the most prominent center. The most common themes were funerary, with figures painted solid black using the skiagraphy technique (shadow painting). There were depictions of prothesis (the laying out of the body) and the ekphora (funeral procession) of the deceased.

Chariot racing was also a common theme, along with scenes depicting a circular dance in honor of a deity. Another regular theme was shipwrecks while mythological themes were rarer.

The most important samples, funeral offerings, and the huge funerary vases have been found at the Dipylon cemetery in Athens. The geometric decoration is almost always drawn with a glossy black or brown color on the yellowish surface of the clay and characterized by geometric, usually straight designs such as triangles, squares, rhombi, and crosses decorating the horizontal surrounding strips of the vase.

Greek geometric art was an achievement in ceramic art. It is where the concept of the pure forms and ways of the monumental composition emerged, giving original solutions to the problem of placing three-dimensional forms on the two-dimensional space of the painting surface.

The monochrome rendering of the subjects, the display of bodies and objects from the most visible and easily understood side, and the simultaneous presentation of an art form from different sides—such as torso on the front, head and feet in profile—as well as the organization of works with more reasonable and spiritual criteria rather than aesthetic are principles that 20th century art discovered and reassessed.

Modern art waves, particularly the Analytical and Synthetic Cubism and the Geometric Abstract Art trends, have been based on similar concepts.

Homer’s epics and Hesiod

Most attempts at understanding the Geometric Period are predominantly based on Homer’s epics, the Iliad and Odyssey, and partly on the writings of Hesiod, a historian. However, the society delineated in the Homeric poems is, most probably, that of the Mycenaean Age, that is, before the end of the 12th century BC.

Through thorough study, experts of the 20th century have reached different conclusions. The poems themselves, composed between the mid-8th and mid-7th centuries BC, derive from the oral poetry tradition. They must not be related either to the Mycenaean Age, as formulated from archaeological finds and the texts of Linear B script, or the society of the Archaic period.

On the contrary, they probably concern the conditions prevailing during the Late Dark Age, with particular focus on the world of the aristocrats, their way of life, and ideas. The works of Hesiod, and especially Works and Days, provide information about the life of the peasants towards the end of the 8th century BC.

As in Geometric Period art and its influence on modern art, Homer’s poems have laid the foundation of Western literature.

 

“I Had No Input in Netflix Show,” Archaeologist Searching for Alexander’s Tomb Says

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Greek archaeologist says she had no input to Netflic docu-drama about Alexander the Great.
Greek archaeologist says she had no input in Netflix docudrama about Alexander the Great. Credit: Egisto Sani. CC BY-2.0/flickr

A famous Greek archaeologist who is known for her search for Alexander the Great’s tomb has said she had no input in the Netflix docudrama Alexander: Making of a God despite its featuring her archaeological work in Alexandria.

“Based on my perception of what Alexander was like, I thought their dramatic depiction of him was about half right,” wrote Calliope Limneos-Papakosta in her Newsweek piece. “But I didn’t have any power to influence the production. Of course, I made suggestions to the team. But people in showbiz know their work better than me. I know my own work. And the show was a big success.”

Expanding on her love for Alexander the Great, the Greek archaeologist tells her readers that she was destined to be in the occupation, and with her “combined loves”—of Greece and the Macedonian conqueror—she headed to Alexandria twenty-eight years ago.

“I began my research and faced many difficulties. But I managed to stay in Alexandria, and continue in my work, and the results are very impressive. I consider myself a lucky archaeologist,” writes Limneos-Papakosta.

She tells her audience that when she is excavating, she’s always full of hope that something important will be found, such as a discovery that could change the whole understanding of the project the team is working on. “I have lived many of these moments. I know now through my experiences with excavations that anything can appear and anything can happen.”

Limneos-Papakosta and her team discovered an ancient statue of Alexander the Great in 2009 in a small trench of fifteen square meters with a depth of eight meters, full of soil, debris and water, which she says was a “miracle,” and “one of my [favorite] discoveries.”

The archaeologist goes on to describe the other discoveries that have made an impression on her, including the foundation blocks of the vast ancient Alexandrian monumental building, the city’s original royal road, and the Ptolemaic period carved tunnel. “All of these were great moments for me,” she writes.

In the last weeks of the previous excavation season, Limneos-Papakosta and her team came across the beginning of a Hellenistic wall parallel to the monumental building. “We have to excavate the whole area to the building’s south to see if this is a surrounding fortification wall.”

The Greek archaeologist went on to say that this was a “very important discovery” that sheds light on the potential significance of the building, adding that her and her team are focusing on this and, if possible, excavating all parallel walls to learn more.

“The priority now is to identify this building. We are in the royal quarter. We know from ancient sources which buildings were recorded. So this building that we have found is one of them. And all of them are very important and famous. But I cannot so far say which one it is,” Limneos-Papakosta writes.

The archaeologist states how since the National Geographic documentary about her work in 2019—The Lost Tomb of Alexander (not on Netflix)—everybody thinks that she is solely searching for the tomb, but she clarifies that she is also finding very important Hellenistic antiquities during digs in Alexandria.

She believes there is a greater possibility than anyone else of her finding the tomb and writes that “it’s all like a puzzle. Every year, every excavation season, we find something that puts a piece in the puzzle.”

No input in Alexander Netflix docudrama

After commenting on the Netflix drama, saying she had no input in it despite it featuring her work, the Greek archaeologist goes on to explain why Alexander the Great was not a “normal person.”

She writes: “He was a superhuman. What he did in 12 years and eight months—and what he planned to do if he lived longer—was not possible for just anyone. That’s why he is considered the greatest of the greats.”

“We cannot understand or judge him on our level, she said. “We are normal people. Not only that, but we also cannot judge or criticize him by our modern ‘moral’ and ‘ethical’ standards. We are so far from the ancient world. It was a completely different era.”

Acropolis View Makes this Apartment the Most Expensive in Athens

Most expensive apartment in Athens
views of the Parthenon and the Acropolis make “Majestic” the most expensive property. Credit: Sotheby’s

With a price tag of 48 million euros ($52 million) an apartment with a panoramic view of the Acropolis is the most expensive house in Athens.

Sotheby’s says that “Majestic” is a landmark property located on one of Athens‘s most iconic streets, the Dionysiou Areopagitou Street, and could be used as a symbolic private mansion, an art gallery, or a private members club.

With extraordinary views of the Parthenon and the Acropolis, as well as close to other significant cultural sites and monuments, the enviable location is rich in history.

With a strong architectural presence, this striking corner building is one-of-a-kind, the luxury real estate agency says.

Most expensive apartment Athens
The property is situated in one of Athens’s most iconic streets. Credit: Sotheby’s

Features of most expensive apartment Athens

With five floors in total, the ground level consists of two commercial properties of 146 sq.m and 114 sq.m, each with its direct access to the basement, and a 40 sq.m residential apartment.

On the first floor, there are four apartments ranging from 45 sq.m to 115 sq.m, while the second and the third floors consist of two apartments each, ranging from 160 sq.m to 175 sq.m. On the fourth floor, there is a spacious 279 sq.m apartment, while on the fifth floor, an apartment of similar size benefits from direct access to the roof garden.

The interiors impart a sense of grandeur with the use of marble and wood throughout the property adding to the opulent feel, Sotheby’s says. The sweeping staircase with curved marble steps and solid wood and iron balustrade is an impressive feature at the center of this extravagant building.

Most expensive apartment Athens
The sweeping staircase with curved marble steps. Credit: Sotheby’s

An oasis in the center of the city, the roof garden is a great place to relax while enjoying 180-degree views of Athens, from the National Garden down to the sea.

Surrounded by splendid neoclassical mansions, the new Acropolis Museum, and Herodes Atticus’ Roman theater, Majestic is at the epicenter of Athenian cultural life. Simply embrace the feeling of being lost in time and history.

The buyer of this property is eligible for the Greek Golden Visa Program, Sotheby’s adds.

Home prices in Athens are surging

Home prices in Athens are surging making the Greek capital one of Europe’s hottest housing marketsBloomberg reported recently.

The surge has been driven in part by the long, slow fallout of Greece’s debt crisis. Hundreds of thousands of homes are caught up in legal entanglements, thinning the market and driving up prices in Athens faster than any other major European city.

Greece’s decade-long debt crisis left lenders with €107 billion of soured debt in 2016. Since then, banks have sold bad loans, but with many backed by properties, that collateral has been caught up in efforts to reach payment deals with debtors. While the homes could eventually hit the auction block, the negotiations are squeezing supply.

On top of the shortage, the economy is recovering and providing locals with more spending power, Bloomberg said.

Greek Fighter Jet Crashes into Sea, Pilot Rescued

Greek fighter jet
The F-16 jet was participating in a training flight. Credit: Hellenic Air Force

A Greek Air Force F-16 (Block 52+ variant) fighter jet has crashed into a sea off the small island of Psathoura, in the northern Aegean.

The pilot managed to escape from the single-seater aircraft using the ejection system. He was located and collected by a Super Puma helicopter and is being transferred to a hospital.

The fighter jet, which belongs to the 337th Squadron of the 110th Fighter Wing, was participating in a training flight (the area is a firing range), the Hellenic Air Force said in a press release.

Authorities dispatched a Super Puma and a Sikorsky S70 helicopter from Marathon, a Canadair from Thessaloniki, and the frigate Aegeus, which the Coast Guard assisted.

Designed as an air superiority day fighter, the F-16 evolved into a successful all-weather multirole aircraft with over 4,600 built since 1976.

Although no longer purchased by the U.S. Air Force, improved versions are being built for export.

Greek pilots fall in the line of duty

In December 2023 a Greek Air Force pilot was killed when his training jet crashed in the countryside near the southern town of Kalamata.

The accident happened on the last flight of 40-year-old Major Epaminondas Kosteas before he was due to take leave.

In July 2023, the captain and co-pilot of a firefighting airplane in Greece were both killed when their aircraft crashed on the island of Evia while attempting to put out a wildfire.

Flight Lt. Christos Moulas, 34, and Second Lt. Periklis Stefanidis, 27, were on board the water-dousing aircraft which belonged to the 355 Tactical Transport Squadron, part of the 112 Combat Wing at Elefsina Air Base.

In February 2023, 31-year-old Captain Efstathios Tsitlakidis was killed when the F-4E Phantom II crashed during a training exercise in the Ionian Sea.  Co-pilot, Lieutenant Marios Touroutsikas, 29, also died in the accident.

Greece remembers Giorgos Baltadoros, the fighter pilot who died on April 12, 2018, when his Mirage 2000-5 plane crashed into the Aegean after a mission intercepting Turkish jets which had violated Greek airspace.

Eighteen years ago, pilot Konstantinos Iliakis joined those Greek military personnel who over the years fell in the line of duty while protecting the country. It was May 23, 2006 when the 35-year-old Hellenic Air Force pilot lost his life as his plane crashed on Karpathos island in the Dodecanese. He had been trying to intercept Turkish fighter jets which had entered Greek airspace over the Aegean.

These incidents and many others are a reminder of the risks that pilots face every day. They are also a testament to the bravery and dedication of these men and women who put their lives on the line to protect their country.

Shrine of Greek God Dionysus Discovered at Leicester Cathedral

excavation site in Leicester, possibly of a shine dedicated to Dionysus
Archaeological excavations in Leicester have revealed what once may have been a Roman shrine to the Greek god Dionysus. Credit: University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS) / PA

An ancient Roman shrine, possibly of the Greek god Dionysus, was discovered recently buried beneath the graveyard of Leicester Cathedral in the United Kingdom.

The find, along with thousands of others, was identified by archaeologists during preparatory excavations for the construction of a visitor and learning center at the cathedral.

The discoveries around the cathedral grounds seem to confirm that it was customary for places of Christian worship to be built over much older ancient Roman ruins.

The discovery

Archaeological excavations around Leicester Cathedral have been underway since 2021. The cathedral itself has been closed since 2022 to allow for a £12.7 building project.

During the excavations in Leicester, archaeologists discovered what they now believe is a Roman shrine to either Dionysus, Isis, or Mithra. However, it is difficult to determine with any certainty what deity was worshipped, as only a broken altar base remains in what was once the basement of a large Roman building near the external wall of the modern cathedral.

“There’s always been a tradition that the cathedral was built on a Roman temple, based on antiquarian discoveries in the 19th Century,” said Mathew Morris, the excavation director for the University of Leicester’s Archaeological Services (ULAS), who are responsible for the excavations.

“We’re now finding a Roman building that looks like it had a shrine status to it,” Morris continued.

“There are no tests that can prove what it was. That it was a shrine is the most likely theory, but there aren’t really any others,” he added.

According to ULAS, the building in which the altar was found was probably built in the second century AD and then deliberately filled in during either the third or fourth century.

The ULAS also said the altar “is carved from local Dane Hills sandstone, quarried 1 mile west of the site near Western Park, and measures 25cm by 15cm. There are decorative moldings on three sides and the back is plain, showing that it would have been placed against a wall.”

altar
The altar discovered in Leicester. Credit: University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS) / PA

Who is Dionysus?

Dionysus was a deity in the ancient Greek pantheon, known to the Romans as Bacchus. Like Demeter, Dionysus was a fertility god, but he was specifically associated with the harvesting of grapes and wine-making, and with fruit and vegetation.

This somewhat mysterious god was also associated with insanity, drunken revelry, and religious ecstasy. In many myths, he is accompanied by a retinue of satyrs, male nature spirits with the tails, ears, and sometimes legs of a horse.

Dionysus was also followed by the Maenads. The “raving ones” as they were known, were the most important members of the god’s retinue, and were all women. They were usually depicted in a state of ecstatic frenzy, brought on through a combination of dancing and intoxication.

Worship of Dionysus, or Bacchus as he was also called, was most likely introduced to the Romans by the Greeks who had settled in Magna Graecia (Southern Italy).

The first cult of Dionysus in Rome was probably established around 200 BC in the grove of Stimula near the Aventine Hill. A priestess from Campania established it there, near the temple where Liber Pater (“the Free Father”) had a State-sanctioned, popular cult.

Like Dionysus, Liber Pater was a god associated with wine and male fertility. The early adoption of a cult of Dionysus in Rome may have had a syncretic relationship with this Roman deity.

Rare Pygmy Hippo Born in Athens Zoo

Pygmy Hippo
File photo of a baby pygmy hippo. Credit: , CC BY-ND 2.0

A rare and endangered pygmy hippo has been born in Athens’ Attica Zoological Park for the first time in 10 years, delighting conservationists.

A lack of male pygmy hippopotamus in captivity had complicated breeding efforts, so zoo staff were “absolutely thrilled” the baby was a boy, Noi Psaroudaki, the zoo’s wildlife veterinarian, told Reuters.

“This is the first birth in the zoo in 2024, and what a birth!” Psaroudaki said.

“Every captive birth of pygmy hippos is extremely important. We’re very happy to see this baby grow into a healthy adult hippo, and hopefully one day reproduce,” she told Reuters.

Pygmy hippos are native to swamps and rainforests in western Africa. They are listed as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and it is estimated only about 2,000-2,500 still live in the wild.

Weighing 7 kg (15.4 pounds), the male calf – whose name will go to a vote – was born on Feb. 19 and joins his parents Lizzie and Jamal as the only pygmy hippos at the zoo.

The hippo, solitary and nocturnal by nature, will remain with its mother for a couple of months until it ventures into the outdoor enclosure, Reuters reports.

Pygmy hippos roamed Greece thousands of years ago

A rare nocturnal forest creature, the pygmy hippopotamus is a difficult animal to study in the wild. Pygmy hippos were unknown outside West Africa until the 19th century. Introduced to zoos in the early 20th century, they breed well in captivity and the vast majority of research is derived from zoo specimens.

However, millennia ago pygmy hippopotamus were present even in Greece.  Archaeologists recently discovered ancient pygmy hippo fossils on the island of Crete which date back to 350,000 B.C.

The find was made at Katharo Plateau on the Dikti mountain in the east of the island by paleontologists from the University of Athens.

It marks the first time such a “high concentration of pygmy hippopotamus fossils” has been found in Greece. Paleontologist Giorgos Lyras, who worked on the excavation, told AFP that it was a “significant discovery.”

Other animals have been unearthed on Crete and the other Greek islands. Dwarf elephants were found to have lived in the Aegean islands, including Naxos and Rhodes. Fossils like these can inform researchers about the ecosystems that existed thousands of years ago.

Athens zoo welcomed rare red panda

Athens’ Attica Zoological Park had another celebration recently when a newly born red panda became an instant star.

The red panda also known as the lesser panda, is a small mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It has dense reddish-brown fur with a black belly and legs, white-lined ears, a mostly white muzzle and a ringed tail.

 

Experts Call for Massive Overhaul of Greece’s Thessaly Plane to Prevent Floods

Thessaly floods
The Greek Army rescued residents at the village of Palamas in Thessaly, Greece in September 2023. Credit: Hellenic Army

Dutch experts have proposed massive infrastructure works, including the relocation of entire villages, in Greece’s Thessaly Plain to prevent future floods.

After the deadly floods of last September in Thessaly Greece asked the assistance of the Dutch experts of HVA, an agricultural development & asset management company with experience of mega projects around the globe.

The Netherlands has developed know-how during its constant battle with the sea and the management of the waters of the River Rhine.

The plan was presented to the Greek government recently and will be available for public consultation.

Proposals to deal with the Thessaly floods

It proposes, among other things a series of measures such as controlled flooding, relocation of villages and agricultural land, building dams, opening tributaries and changing agricultural production.

HVA’s scientists who spent weeks examining the Thessaly Basin say that work should be completed within six years.

They warn that the region is facing the risk of completely exhausting its water reserves. They also say that inhabitants should get used to phenomena such as the Mediterranean cyclones that hit twice in the last three years.

People being saved by rescuers in the recent catastrophic floods in Greece
Army units help residents escape the flood. Credit: AMNA

“The inhabitants of Thessaly also have to accept”, say the Dutch scientists, “as the inhabitants of other European countries have been forced to do after severe floods, that some areas will have to be ceded to give space to the rivers.”

They propose that more space must be given to the three main rivers in Thessaly: Acheloos, Pinios, and also Litheos, which cross the city of Trikala.

A typical example is what the Dutch scientists propose for Trikala. There they propose to create a bypass channel, in which a part of the waters of the Litheos River will be directed so that it does not overflow and flood the city. This tributary will have to cross through cultivated land and small villages that will have to be relocated elsewhere.

For Larissa, the scientists propose the immediate demolition of buildings that have been built on the banks of Pineos River, reducing its capacity by half, and the creation of anti-flood zones, possibly with the withdrawal of agricultural lands.

Regarding Lake Carla they say its capacity is “not sufficient to store excess water from future extreme weather events,” and they recommend works to increase its capacity.

Check dams and big dams required

HVA recommends the creation of up to 250 check dams that should be built in the smaller valleys, ravines and streams surrounding the Thessaly Plain. With these, they report, “the large flow of water from the mountainous areas will be reduced. Dissipating the energy from rushing water will significantly reduce soil erosion.”

Another proposal is the creation of three large dams in the towns of Mouzaki, Pyli and Skopia. They also state that the completion of the Sykia Dam, a project included in the Acheloos diversion projects, is necessary to divert 200 million cubic meters of water from the river to eastern Thessaly.

Change in agriculture cultivation to prevent floods in Thessaly

Dutch scientists characterize the visible – and immediate – risk of desertification of the region as a “matter of survival” for the agricultural sector of Thessaly.

They estimate that the annual water deficit of around 500 million cubic meters that Thessaly faces will increase in the coming years due to climate change, which is predicted to increase temperatures and decrease rainfall.

What they propose as a solution, to protect the water resources of the region, is to implement a gradual, multi-year and coordinated transition to the crops, from low value and high demand on water (e.g. cotton and corn) to horticultural and fruit crops that require (most of the time) less water and space, while also being higher value, generating more income for farmers.

The question is whether the Greek government has the political will and the resources to implement at least part of the radical overhaul proposed by the Dutch experts.

Greece Drops in the Rankings of the World Happiness Report

World Happiness Report
A Greek man seems happy on Mykonos, but overall Greeks are increasingly unhappy. Credit: Greek Reporter

Greece has dropped in the rankings of the World Happiness Report released on Wednesday to mark the UN’s International Day of Happiness.

This year Greece dropped six places compared to 2023 and is now in 64th place among 140 nations.

The findings are powered by data from the Gallup World Poll and analyzed by some of the world’s leading well-being scientists.

Experts use responses from people in more than 140 nations to rank the world’s ‘happiest’ countries. Finland tops the overall list for the seventh successive year, though there is considerable movement elsewhere:

Serbia (37th) and Bulgaria (81st) have had the biggest increases in average life evaluation scores since they were first measured by the Gallup World Poll in 2013, and this is reflected in climbs up the rankings between World Happiness Report 2013 and this 2024 edition of 69 places for Serbia and 63 places for Bulgaria.

The next two countries showing the largest increases in life evaluations are Latvia (46th) and Congo (Brazzaville) (89th), with rank increases of 44 and 40 places, respectively, between 2013 and 2024.

Significantly, the US (23rd) has fallen out of the top 20 for the first time since the World Happiness Report was first published in 2012, driven by a large drop in the wellbeing of Americans under 30.

Afghanistan remains bottom of the overall rankings as the world’s ‘unhappiest’ nation.

For the first time, the report gives separate rankings by age group, in many cases varying widely from the overall rankings. Lithuania tops the list for children and young people under 30, while Denmark is the world’s happiest nation for those 60 and older.

In comparing generations, those born before 1965 are, on average, happier than those born since 1980. Among Millennials, evaluation of one’s own life drops with each year of age, while among Boomers life satisfaction increases with age.

“We found some pretty striking results. There is a great variety among countries in the relative happiness of the younger, older, and in-between populations. Hence the global happiness rankings are quite different for the young and the old, to an extent that has changed a lot over the last dozen years,” Prof John F. Helliwell, Emeritus Professor of Economics at the Vancouver School of Economics, University of British Columbia, and a founding Editor of the World Happiness Report, said.

The 20 top countries in the World Happiness Report

1. Finland

2. Denmark

3. Iceland

4. Sweden

5. Israel

6. Netherlands

7. Norway

8. Luxemburg

9. Switzerland

10. Australia

11. New Zealand

12. Coast Rica

13. Kuwait

14. Austria

15. Canada

16. Belgium

17. Ireland

18. Czech Republic

19. Lithuania

20. United Kingdom

The 10 countries at the bottom of the World Happiness Report

  1. Afghanistan
  2. Lebanon
  3. Lesotho
  4. Sierra Leone
  5. Congo
  6. Zimbabwe
  7. Botswana
  8. Malawi
  9. Swaziland
  10. Zambia

Sundial Calendar, the Byzantine “Antikythera Mechanism”

Byzantine portable sundial-calendar
Byzantine sundial-calendar reproduction in Thessaloniki Technology Museum, the original caption as per exhibit was: Portable sundial, Memphis, Roman Egypt, 4th century AD (modeled after original in Hermitage Museum) CC BY-SA 4.0

Referred to as the Byzantine “Antikythera Mechanism”, the portable sundial-calendar on display at the London Science Museum is fifteen centuries old and is proof that the Byzantines excelled in arithmetic and astrology.

Byzantine education was based on the study of the trivium and quadrivium, a program codified by the Romans. Its elements were inherited from late Ancient Greece.

The trivium was the study of grammar, logic, and rhetoric. The quadrivium was the study of arithmetic, astronomy, music, and geometry.

Educated Byzantines clearly distinguished between astronomy and astrology, the former being concerned with the theoretical study of celestial events, whereas the latter functioned as a practical art.

The Byzantine sundial-calendar

The Byzantine sundial-calendar in the London Science Museum consists of four surviving parts: the front sundial plate, suspension arm, Moon disc with gear, and arbor with ratchet and two well-formed gear wheels.

The handle measures 127 mm x 30 mm x 18 mm, while the gear wheel is 28 mm x 32 mm, and the plate is 3 mm x 135 mm.

Scientists agree that the rare artifact was created during the Byzantine Empire era between the years 400 and 600 AD by an unknown individual.

On the sundial plate, there are sixteen inscriptions in Greek, namely: Constantinople, Syene, Thebaid, Africa, Alexandria, Antioch, Rhodes, Athens, Sicily, Thessaloniki, Rome, Dalmatia, Doclea, Caesarea Sratonis, Palestine, and Ascalon.

The Byzantine owner of the device would have been able to use it as a sundial to tell the time in sixteen different locations across the Old World. The well-preserved artifact could be the first portable clock ever.

Furthermore, the owner would have been able to predict the positions of the Sun and Moon in the zodiac and the lunar phases.

Sundial Calendar and Antikythera Mechanism

The device, consisting of a sundial and geared mechanical calendar, is the second oldest known of its kind. The earliest known example is the Antikythera Mechanism.

antikythera mechanism fragment
The Antikythera Mechanism, currently housed at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. Credit: ZDE/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 4.0

The Antikythera Mechanism was an Ancient Greek mechanical device used to calculate and display information pertinent to astronomical phenomena. Its construction is currently dated to 100 BC, give or take thirty years.

The elaborate device carried the first known set of scientific dials or scales, and its importance was acknowledged when radiographic images indicated that the remaining fragments contained thirty gear wheels.

No other geared mechanism of such complexity is known to have existed prior to the Antikythera Mechanism. Such mechanisms appeared in medieval cathedral clocks that were built a thousand years later.

Scientists dubbed it an ancient “computer,” and it is named after the island of Antikythera in the Aegean Sea where it was discovered. It is now on display in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.

Telling time with a sundial

The clock, just like the Antikythera Mechanism, can “display” the time and day in sixteen different cities-regions of the then known world in Greek.

It is a masterpiece, based on deep knowledge of astronomy, mathematics, and technological achievements, such as metalworking, automation, and gear construction.

The owner of the sundial is unknown, but it is likely it was an individual who was part of the priesthood and needed to know the time so as to properly schedule religious rituals.

The concept of an hour, comprised of sixty minutes and three thousand six hundred seconds, is a human invention. However, the Sun would have been instrumental in defining this.

As the Sun navigates across the sky, shadows cast by objects change in length and direction, and if an object is placed on the ground, the shadows can be used to chart the passage of day. By scratching lines into the earth, our ancestors could formulate an ‘hours’ system and begin to count the passing of daylight hours for the very first time.

Hence, the sundial is essentially a time-finder.

The oldest known sundial dates from the reign of Thutmose III, who ruled Egypt around 1500 BC.

It is a simple L-shaped piece of stone with hour lines along its upper surface. At dawn, it would have been aligned towards the rising Sun, and a bar mounted atop the short part of the L would have cast a shadow on the first hour line of the day.

As the Sun moved, the shadow also did along the hour lines until noon when the direction of the sundial was reversed and the same six hour lines were used to count out the afternoon hours.

Greek and Roman Portable Sundials

There are eight portable sundials of a single type, according to J.V. Field and M.T. Wright, who are science historians. Five are inscribed in Greek and three in Roman.

The Greek ones include the sundial part of a compound instrument that has been termed The Byzantine Sundial-Calendar. They all were created during the early centuries of the second millennium and may belong to the Roman era or early Byzantine Empire.

The dial is capable of continuous adjustment for latitude. These dials, like all Ancient Greek or Roman ones, were intended to indicate the time of day according to the system of ‘temporal,’ ‘seasonal,’ or unequal hours, whereby the period from sunrise to sunset each day is equally divided into twelve hours.

What is remarkable about this design in comparison to others from antiquity is that its design embodies an approximation.

The list of Greek sundials also contains a dial from Memphis, information about which has been very scarce thus far. Some authors even considered it lost.

However, this instrument is stored in the collection of the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg. There is now an opportunity to study it more closely.