Book Review: The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo By Taylor Jenkins Reid

 An aging starlet with seven marriages behind her generously offers the rights to her memoir to an inexperienced writer—at a heartbreaking cost.

Monique Grant is stunned when Hollywood legend Evelyn Hugo grants an exclusive interview to her over more seasoned journalists, but when she’s also chosen to publish Evelyn’s final confessions after her death, she learns that the 79-year-old actress has enough life experience for them both. Growing up poor in Hell’s Kitchen, young Evelyn Herrera trades her virginity for a ride to Hollywood, changes her name, and climbs the rungs of the entertainment-industry ladder one husband at a time until she hits Oscar gold. To write her off as being calculating and fickle would leave out the difficulty of being a woman, especially a woman of color, trying to get by in the late 1950s without a man’s blessing. 

Evelyn plays up her bombshell figure and hides her Cuban roots by dying her hair blonde—the first of many lies she’ll have to tell over the course of her life to prove to the world that she deserves her place in the spotlight. She’s unapologetically ambitious but not without remorse. Which of her seven husbands was her true love? Why did she choose Monique to tell her story? Evelyn recounts her failures and triumphs in chronological order, one husband at a time, with a few breaks for Monique to report back to her editor. 

The celebrity tell-all style is a departure from Reid’s (One True Loves, 2016, etc.) previous books, but Evelyn Hugo is a character who can demand top billing. When asked if it bothers her that “all anyone talks about when they talk about you are the seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo,” she says no: “Because they are just husbands. I am Evelyn Hugo.”

Reid's heroine reveals her darkest secrets as if she were wiping off makeup at the end of the night—a celebration of human frailty that speaks to the Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor in us all.

Source: Kirkus Reviews

In ‘The Midnight Library,’ Books Offer Transport to Different Lives

 Book Review: The Midnight Library

Few fantasies are more enduring than the idea that there might be a second chance at a life already lived, some sort of magical reset in which mistakes can be erased, regrets addressed, choices altered. This deep desire for a different life, or for more lives than just the one, is at the heart of any number of stories — movies like “Groundhog Day,” “Sliding Doors” and “It’s a Wonderful Life”; television shows like “Sliders” and “Quantum Leap”; wonderful novels like Kate Atkinson’s “Life After Life,” Andrew Sean Greer’s “The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells,” Jo Walton’s “My Real Children” and many others. Into this ever-popular genre, Matt Haig’s “The Midnight Library” is a welcome addition.

Haig’s central character is 35-year-old Nora Seed. Nora is a woman with many gifts and few accomplishments. She’s estranged from her only living relative, an older brother, and also distant from her only close friend both emotionally and geographically. She had “always had the sense that she came from a long line of regrets and crushed hopes that seemed to echo in every generation.” In short order, in a life already littered with remorse, she loses both her job and her beloved cat, Voltaire. “As she stared at Voltaire’s still and peaceful expression — that total absence of pain — there was an inescapable feeling brewing in the darkness. Envy.”

In Haig’s book, the mechanism through which transmigration takes place is the Midnight Library of the title. This structure occupies a magical space between life and death. Its facade replicates an ordinary library, shelves with books, but on an infinite scale.

The librarian is very wise, as librarians tend to be. She explains to Nora that every book on the shelves is a doorway into a different life. Only one book is an exception to this, “The Book of Regrets,” a volume so heavy and toxic it’s dangerous for Nora to read more than a few lines.

By the time Nora arrives at the Midnight Library, the reader has already learned what her chief regrets are. Each of these now functions in the plot as a kind of promissory note; we expect to experience the lives in which these particular regrets are addressed and, in this, we are not disappointed. But the repercussions of eliminating each regret often surprise Nora. Choices are not the same as outcomes, the librarian warns her.

The librarian encourages Nora to sample a variety of texts, promising that as soon as Nora feels dissatisfied with a new life, she’ll find herself back in the library, ready to have another go. This may happen after only a few moments or months might pass. All this while, time in the library is at a standstill. An infinite number of other lives beckon.

Nora is initially reluctant — life is just what she didn’t want more of — but the librarian is firm. Why else would you be here? she asks. So Nora opens her first book.

By the end, she’ll have opened a great many more. Haig describes some of Nora’s provisional lives in detail. Others last only as long as a sentence: “In one life she only ate toast.” Suspense comes from the fact that Nora is dropped in midstream, with no preparation. She always remembers her original life — her root life — so she always has that point of comparison. But she knows nothing of the life she’s just entered. Often she must look for herself online, read her social media accounts, in order to know who she is. More than once she finds herself performing before large crowds, speaking on a subject in which she has no background or expected to sing a song some other Nora recorded, but this one has never heard before. More than once, she’s in a sexual relationship with a man she doesn’t know or mother to children she’s never met.

A small cast of characters reappears in many of Nora’s lives. Her brother, her parents, her best friend are almost always present. She sometimes crosses paths with a man she came close to marrying. As she plays through her own myriad possibilities, the impact of her choices on each of these characters is also profound; their lives are as altered by Nora’s decisions as her own. Even peripheral characters from her root life are transformed.

As in the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” Nora appears to be the X factor in all these changes. The supporting cast is also making different choices, but these are largely posited as responses to Nora’s own altered actions. Only Nora’s choices feel determinative.

The issue of the many Noras temporarily displaced from their own root lives is somewhat troubling. Where do they go in the interim? If/when Nora finds the life in which she will stay, what will become of the Nora whose life that actually is? Answers are hinted at, but the issue is not directly addressed. The conundrum at the heart of the book is the implication that our Nora is the real Nora and the other lives all variations on that first life, the root life, rather than equally valuable universes filled with equally valuable people. In the infinity of the multiverse, surely there are other Noras also trying on our Nora’s life from time to time, displacing her as they do so. The universe is full of infinite possibility, but the story here remains tightly focused on the internal life of a single woman and all her might-have-beens.

It can be hard to keep a reader’s energy invested in a depressed and somewhat listless character, but Nora is smart and observant; she remains good company. She’s studied philosophy and has a particular affection for the American Transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau. The book is all the richer, as any book would be, for the inclusion of several of his quotes: “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams” and “I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.”

There is likewise a danger that such a recursive plotline will tire the reader. But here, too, the book succeeds. At just the right moment, not too soon and not too late, Nora makes her final decisive move, taking us into the last section of the book. The ending is satisfying but not surprising. By the time it comes, in fact, only one choice still seems possible.

The narrative throughout has a slightly old-fashioned feel, like a bedtime story. It’s an absorbing but comfortable read, imaginative in the details if familiar in its outline. The invention of the library as the machinery through which different lives can be accessed is sure to please readers and has the advantage of being both magical and factual. Every library is a liminal space; the Midnight Library is different in scale, but not kind. And a vision of limitless possibility, of new roads taken, of new lives lived, of a whole different world available to us somehow, somewhere, might be exactly what’s wanted in these troubled and troubling times.

Source: New York Times 

Book Review: To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

 The Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, 1961

The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it, To Kill A Mockingbird became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film, also a classic.

Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee takes readers to the roots of human behavior – to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humor and pathos.

Now with over 18 million copies in print and translated into forty languages, this regional story by a young Alabama woman claims universal appeal. Harper Lee always considered her book to be a simple love story. Today it is regarded as a masterpiece of American literature.

With endless books and infinitely more to be written in the future, it is rare occasion that I take the time to reread a novel. And this time it’s To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a timeless classic. The first time I read this I was much, much younger and I remember loving it then. Over fifteen years later, it still held so much for me – wonderful language and characters that I never forgot about and relevancy even so many years later. Harper Lee is one of the best female authors.

The story in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is told from the point of view of Scout (Jean-Louise Finch), a six year old girl, through various events that happen in the town of Maycomb and in particular, the court case of Tom Robinson as her father Atticus Finch acts as Tom’s defence lawyer. Tom, a black man who has been accused of raping a young white woman, has to endure multiple racial attacks. Atticus, widely described as the “most enduring fictional image of racial heroism”, describes the events to Scout so that she sees that all people should be treated equally.

The narrator of this story is young tomboy Jean Louise (Scout), and her observations of Maycomb and people’s behavior are simple, honest, and visually very rich. I had no problem picturing Scout, Jem and Dill’s childish efforts to draw Boo Radley out of his house, or Calpurnia taking the kids to a colored church.

But when, after 128 pages, the court case begins and the plot really becomes intriguing, you immediately feel a rise in tension and excitement. Here Jem and Atticus become the main characters instead of Scout because they are more aware of the risks and importance of the case, although Scout’s moment with the mob was heartwrenchingly beautiful in it’s innocence.

The last part of the book was less tense but never dull: it was important to show the aftermath and the effects of the case on different class – and races – of people to convey the impact of Atticus’ actions. Because back in 1935 and even now, in our current political situation, standing up for what’s right while the majority is against you, is an incredible brave and difficult thing to do.

One thing especially about this story that stood out to me, are the interesting gender roles in this book. We have Atticus who isn’t only presented as an amazing father but also as a great male character, because he’s patient, courteous, clever…but not traditionally masculine. In contrast with Bob Ewell, the main antagonist, Atticus isn’t physically strong, doesn’t use strong language, and hates violence (example: he keeps his shooting skills a secret from his children).

His sister, aunt Alexandra, is a very traditional female figure who wants Scout to behave more ‘lady like’, and because Scout doesn’t like her (at first), we as readers dislike her too. Acting as her opposites are Calpurnia and Miss Maudie, who neither show traditional feminine characteristics like politeness and charm, but both are presented as good and right.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a well-loved book for many good reasons, but I was very surprised by its diverse male and female characters, who make this story even richer than it already is.

Source: business insider

Strawberry Moon lights up night sky in Visakhapatnam

 Residents in Vizag enjoyed the Strawberry Moon, also the supermoon of the year. The Strawberry Moon is one of the most colorful moons of the year because of its low, shallow path across the sky. Many people in Visakhapatnam throng the sea beach to enjoy the Strawberry Moon.

They could watch the strawberry moon on a clear night on June 5, 2020. The full moon night in June is generally called strawberry moon in many parts of the world as during some ancient civilisations, this was the perfect time to pick strawberries. This strawberry moon was doubly special as it coincided with the penumbral eclipse of the moon.

G7 ministers agree new steps against fossil fuels to fight against Climate Change

 The world's major nations have taken further significant steps to help limit climate change.

G7 environment ministers have agreed that they will deliver climate targets in line with limiting the rise in global temperatures to 1.5C.

That's far more ambitious than the previous 2C maximum.

Ministers also agreed to stop direct funding of coal-fired power stations in poorer nations by the end of 2021.

There's wriggle room in the statement, but the decision will send a clear message to development banks that still fund coal power in poor countries.

There's also an important commitment to safeguarding 30% of land for nature by 2030 to boost wildlife and help soak up carbon emissions.

Environment ministers from the UK, the US, Canada, Japan, France, Italy and Germany took part in the virtual G7 meeting, which is one of a series leading to the leaders' gathering in Cornwall in June.

The online meeting was led by the UK, and a government source told BBC News: "We're pretty encouraged by the outcomes."

The decisions that have been taken are an important stepping-stone on the road towards the vital global climate summit in Glasgow in November called COP26.

The move to keep their policies in line with 1.5C implies much faster action to cut emissions by 2030, rather than by mid-century.

Nick Mabey from the climate think tank E3G told BBC News: "This is looking good.

"It puts the burden on any fossil fuel development now to prove that it's 1.5C compatible."

The ministers are said to have been heavily influenced by a recent report from the rich nations' energy think tank, the IEA.

The study said that if the world wanted to reach net-zero emissions by the middle of the century, then there could be no new coal, oil or gas development from now on.

The G7 ministers agreed much more cash was needed to help fast-growing economies such as India and Indonesia to get clean technology. This decision will be pushed forward at the G7 Finance ministers' meeting on 4 June.

The communique issued by the ministers at the end of the meeting said: "We will phase out new direct government support for carbon-intensive international fossil fuel energy." This is expected to mean coal and oil.

But there's no date for enactment of the policy, with Japan arguing against strong strictures against coal. The UK hopes Japan will bend further on this by the Glasgow conference in November.

Another statement in communique said: "We commit to take concrete steps towards an absolute end to new direct government support for unabated international thermal coal power generation by end of 2021."

The UK Environment Secretary George Eustice told a news conference that the G7 would work towards ending unregulated fishing - and strive to improve marine biodiversity in international waters.

The US special climate envoy John Kerry said the meeting showed a unique sense of urgency - and unity. He said the G7 had understood the need to make sure some groups of people aren't left behind by the coming low-carbon revolution.

The ministers agreed that the world should move towards zero emission vehicles. The G7 were joined by India, Australia, South Africa and South Korea who have guest status at the meeting.

The elephant not in the room was China. The UK's tactic is not to blame the world's biggest carbon emitter, but to lay down a challenge.

Written by  Roger Harrabin, BBC environment analyst

Gene sequencing bacteria in natural environment sheds new light on antimicrobial resistance

 A team of researchers from multiple institutions in the U.K. and the U.S. has learned more about the development of antimicrobial resistance by studying hundreds of samples of bacteria in their natural environments. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, the group describes how they conducted genome sequencing on hundreds of bacterial samples collected from a wide variety of natural environments and what they learned by doing so.

Over the past decade, medical scientists have grown concerned as more of the kinds of bacteria responsible for infections grow immune to antimicrobial agents meant to kill them. Such antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has become more of a threat in recent times as resistance continues to grow. In this new effort, the researchers have looked at a type of bacteria that are behind intestinal infections. These Enterobacteriaceae include familiar bacteria such as E. coli.

The researchers began their effort by noting that most efforts aimed at better understanding resistance in bacteria have centered around closed environments, such as specimens collected from patients in hospitals. They wondered if more might be learned by taking a look at such bacteria in more natural environments, such as in the soil, in ponds or even in wastewater in treatment plants. To learn more, they collected 2,292 samples from 19 different sites. The samples were then separated allowing the researchers to conduct genome sequencing on 827 kinds of bacteria (553 of which were E. coli).

In looking at their data, the researchers found that some species of bacteria, such as E. coli, that lived in the same environment (such as a pond) shared more genes than had been expected. Notably, they are of a type where genes can move between individual bacterium via horizontal gene transfer. Such sharing was much less likely, they also noted, in more isolated environments. The researchers also found more AMR genes inside of plasmids than in chromosomes. They suggest their findings indicate that Enterobacteriaceae demonstrate both dynamic and plastic AMR gene dissemination and that it is important for researchers involved in AMR efforts to consider natural environments.

The researchers plan to continue their work—they next aim to investigate overlap in environments, including those that involve humans directly.

Scientists Want to Send 6.7 Millions of Sperm and Egg Samples to Moon for Lunar Gene Bank

 Earth’s increasingly precarious state of things has always worried scientists. And ever since space exploration began, colonizing other bodies in the solar system has been the underlying vision for humans to find permanent settlements in space. The science community’s perpetual fixation on building habitats on other planets of our solar system and our natural satellite, the Moon, have been in the works for a long time. While the moon among other space bodies may not be an ideal place for a permanent residence, it could serve as a storage unit for our invaluable resources.

According to a New York Post report, scientists have proposed to establish a lunar gene bank that could house a repository of reproductive cells, sperm and egg samples from 6.7 million of Earth’s species, including humans. The proposed bank or ‘ark’ to be built on the moon is seen as a ‘modern global insurance policy.’

At a recent aerospace conference, Mechanical and aerospace engineer Jekan Thanga, whose team at the University of Arizona submitted their report, proposed setting up a lunar gene bank by shipping millions of sperm and egg samples for safekeeping. Thanga, speaking at the annual Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Aerospace Conference on Saturday, said that as the planet’s growing instability, an ‘Earth-based repository’ would leave the collected specimen vulnerable. He wants to jumpstart a cross planetary of sorts by starting a human seed vault on the moon at the earliest.

According to his presentation, the so-called ‘ark would cryogenically preserve various species in the event of a global disaster. “We can still save them until the tech advances to then reintroduce these species — in other words, save them for another day,” he said.

The study he co-authored with five other scientists would store the reproductive cells in recently discovered lunar ‘pits’ from which scientists believe lava once flowed billions of years ago. And they think these pits also are the perfect size for cell storage, as they go down 80 to 100 meters underground and ‘provide readymade shelter from the surface of the moon,’ which endures ‘major temperature swings,’ as well as threats from meteorites and space radiation.

In his presentation, he also said that many plants and animals were ‘seriously endangered’ and cited the eruption of Indonesia’s Mount Toba 75,000 years ago, which caused a 1,000-year cooling period. He connected the same to present-day parallel to ‘human activity and other factors that we fully don’t understand.’

However, Thanga’s concept of creating gene banks is not new, it is already being employed at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault on the island of Spitsbergen in the Arctic Sea that houses plant seeds among others at the facility. The unique seed vault currently houses close to 992,000 samples – each containing an average of 500 seeds.

INTERNATIONAL WILDLIFE TRADE IS CAUSING OVER 60 PERCENT SPECIES ON EARTH TO GO EXTINCT

 International wildlife trade is causing declines of over 60 percent in the abundance of species on the planet, say scientists who call for more research on the impacts of this severe threat across the world. The scientists, including those from the University of Sheffield in the UK, found that wildlife trade is causing declines of around 62 percent in the abundance of species, with endangered species suffering losses of over 80 percent. Although there are policies managing trade, the study, published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, warned that without enough research on the effects of wildlife trade these policies cannot claim to safeguard species.

According to the researchers, at least 100 million plants and animals are internationally trafficked each year and the international wildlife trade is said to be worth between USD 4-20 billion per year. Citing some examples, they said wildlife trade continues to impact the decline of African elephants due to the ivory trade and the demise of pangolin species across Africa and Asia.

The research called for better protective measures for threatened species and management of trade with trade still driving declines of 56 percent in protected areas.

"Thousands of species are traded for pets, traditional medicines, and luxury foods, but how this impacts species' abundances in the wild was unknown," said David Edwards, Professor of Conservation Science at the University of Sheffield.

While the declines in abundance are worse for species being traded as pets, the scientists said these are also caused by trade for bushmeat.

"Our research draws together high-quality field studies to reveal a shocking reduction in most traded species, driving many locally extinct," said Edwards, one of the corresponding authors of the study.

The scientists believe trapping drives particularly severe declines in species at high risk of extinction and those traded for pets.

"Such high levels of offtake suggests trade is often unsustainable, yet a lot of trade is conducted legally. As a society, we urgently need to reflect upon our desire for exotic pets and the efficacy of legal frameworks designed to prevent species declines," Edwards said.

According to the scientists, an understanding of how wildlife trade is impacting species is severely lacking in developed nations, and for many commonly traded wildlife groups, despite it being one of their biggest drivers of species extinction.

"Where extraction for wildlife trade occurs we found large declines in species abundances. This highlights the key role global wildlife trade plays in species extinction risk," said Oscar Morton, lead author of the research from the University of Sheffield.

Without effective management, Morton believes such trade will continue to threaten wildlife.

"For such a severe threat to global wildlife, we uncovered concerningly limited data on the impacts of wildlife trade in Asia, North America and Europe, as well as a lack of data for many amphibians, invertebrates, cacti and orchids, despite these groups often being traded," he added.

ISRO, MapmyIndia team up to take on Google Maps/Earth

 In a bid to take on Google Maps, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and digital mapping and location-based deep-tech company MapmyIndia on Friday announced a new initiative to offer a fully indigenous, mapping portal and geospatial services.The services will be combining the power of MapmyIndia's digital maps and technologies with ISRO's catalogue of satellite imagery and earth observation data.

Through the combined partnership with ISRO, MapmyIndia's end-user maps, apps, and services would be a much better, more detailed, and comprehensive, as well as privacy-centric, hyper-local, and indigenous mapping solution for Indians, compared to foreign map apps and solutions, the company said.

"This partnership with ISRO heralds a new dawn of Aatmanirbhar Bharat in the strategic area of maps and geospatial technologies," Rohan Verma, CEO & Executive Director, MapmyIndia, said in a statement.

"You don't need Google Maps/Earth any longer", Verma said in the headline in an article on LinkedIn.

Users will also benefit hugely from the various map-based analytics and insights about weather, pollution, agricultural output, land-use changes, flood and landslide disasters, among others, the company said.

MapmyIndia said its maps and APIs (application programming interfaces) will enrich ISRO's geoportals.

It will empower Indian scientists, academia, researchers, and government organisations with the best of India's satellite imagery, earth observation data, and digital map data, and advanced geospatial technologies, all combined together in a fully indigenous ISRO-MapmyIndia platform, the company added.

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These teenpreneurs are making wildlife conservation cost effective

Climate change has caused the extinction rate of species to increase 1,000x as compared to the natural extinction rate. Due to this, the migration patterns of a lot of avian and marine species have been affected, which means they are more susceptible to predation and their reproduction is also affected. As a result, their numbers start to dwindle, and they move into the endangered category before becoming extinct.

In an attempt to help solve this problem, teenagers Akarsh Shroff and Rakshak Gowda came up with a Femto-satellites based wildlife monitoring system, to help conservationists and research organisations collect data about the migration patterns of species via biotagging. “Though there are existing systems like ICARUS and ARGOS, the problem is they cannot track various smaller avian species and some deep sea marine species since these have an extended handshaking period [time it takes to exchange signals between the transmitter (biotag) and receiver (satellite)] and the size of the biotag is large,” says Gowda. 

They started work on the system in 2019 and set up a company, Grey Night, in July 2020. The duo is building a network of 17 Femto-satellites (miniaturised satellites that weigh less than 100 grams) to be launched in a low Earth orbit (satellites with orbital altitude under 1,000 km). Shroff explains, “With our patent pending technology, we will be able to reduce tracking costs, decrease the transmission energy, have lower handshaking periods and will be able to track deep-sea marine species as well, since our biotags will be smaller.

”Through Grey Night, Shroff and Gowda are planning to cater to wildlife conservation organisations that need migration data of species. “Currently, they [organisations] are charged anywhere between $7,000 and $9,000 but using our technology—where our capital expenditure will be reduced—we will be able to provide our tracking services at a 20 percent reduced cost,” says Shroff, 20. About $800 million is spent on tracking over 1,000 species annually, and this is projected to grow to about $3.8 billion in the next five years.

The duo is hoping to capture 15 percent of this market segment in the next five years.They have already received an undisclosed amount of seed funding from a reputed incubator. “We have received one provisional patent, and are in the process of filing five additional patents for the design of our satellites, motherboard and the design of the biotag itself,” says Gowda, 20, who looks after the technical aspects, while Shroff takes care of business. Shroff adds, “We have also made an agreement with the European Space Agency through which they will be covering the launch costs for our first satellite.”The prototype was scheduled to be launched in 18 to 24 months, but the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted their timelines. But Shroff and Gowda are hopeful to have the system fully operational in the next three to three-and-a-half years. Going forward, they are planning to incorporate Grey Night as a US-based company, since they believe space technology and conservation have a lot more scope in the US. “We are also looking at getting into an international space tech accelerator,” says a hopeful Shroff.

This story appears in the 18 December, 2020 issue of Forbes India.