Vegetables sown in February in the southern hemisphere.

Chard

Place: semi shade
Sowing: direct in crescent
Depth of sowing: 2 cm
Watering: normal
Germination: 7 to 9 days
Transplanting: 20 to 40 days
Harvest: 3 months on full moon
Beneficial association: arugula, tomato, carrot, beans Harmful
association: none

Artichoke

Place: semi shade
Sowing: direct or nursery in crescent
Depth of planting: 4 cm
Watering: normal
Germination: 12 to 15 days
Transplanting: 30 days
Harvest: 1 year on full moon
Beneficial association: peas, beans, lettuce, radishes Harmful
association: none

Celery

Place: full sun
Sowing: nursery in crescent
Depth of planting: 0.5 cm
Watering: abundant
Germination: 15 to 20 days
Harvest: 2 months on full moon
Beneficial association: eggplant, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, cucumber, lettuce, beans, leek, cabbage, radish Harmful
association: potato and carrot

Broccoli

Place: semi shade
Sowing: nursery in crescent
Depth of sowing: 1.5 cm
Watering: abundant
Germination: 5 to 10 days
Harvest: 2 to 3 months on full moon
Beneficial association: peas, basil, celery, nasturtium, onion, coriander, dill, lettuce, chamomile, mint, oregano, potato, beans, beetroot, rue, thyme
Harmful association: strawberries, tomato

Onion

Location: full
sun Sowing: direct in the waning quarter
Sowing depth: 1 cm
Watering: abundant
Germination: 10 to 15 days
Harvest: 3 to 6 months on the new moon
Beneficial association: eggplant, broccoli, corn, strawberry, lettuce, melon, cucumber, leek, beetroot, cabbage, watermelon, tomato, carrot, Italian squash
Harmful association: peas, cauliflower, beans

Green onion (chives)

Location: full sun
Sowing: last quarter seedling
Sowing depth: 1 cm
Watering: abundant
Germination: 10 to 15 days
Transplanting: 20 days
Harvest: 3 to 4 months on the new moon
Beneficial association: tomato, carrot
Harmful association: peas, beans, beans

Chives

Place: semi shade
Sowing: direct in crescent
Depth of sowing: 0.5 cm
Watering: normal
Germination: 12 to 15 days
Transplanting: 30 days
Harvest: 3 months on full moon
Charity:  carrot

Cilantro

Place: semi shade
Sowing: direct in crescent
Depth of sowing: 1 cm
Watering: abundant
Germination: 10 to 12 days
Harvest: 2 months on full moon
Beneficial association: none
Harmful association: none

Cauliflower

Location: full shade
Sowing: crescent seedling
Sowing depth: max. 1 cm
Watering: abundant
Germination: 6 to 10 days
Transplanting: 3 months
Harvest: 6 to 7 months on full moon
Beneficial association: basil, celery, parsley, beetroot, beans, tomato
Harmful association: onion, strawberry, potato, cabbage

Spinach

Place: semi shade
Sowing: direct on crescent moon
Sowing depth: 2 cm
Watering: moderate
Germination: 8 to 10 days
Harvest: 2 months, crescent moon
Beneficial association: garlic, celery, peas, eggplant, strawberry, cucumber, beans, leek, tomato
Harmful association: fennel, potato, cucumber, beetroot

Lettuce

Place: semi shade
Sowing: direct in crescent
Depth of sowing: 0.5 cm
Watering: normal
Germination: 5 to 10 days
Harvest: 3 months on full moon
Beneficial association: chili pepper, garlic, artichoke, spinach, turnip, broad beans, melon, leek, radish, pumpkin, tomato, rue, cucumber, oregano, cabbage, watermelon
Harmful association: celery, parsley, sunflower, watercress

Melon

Place: semi-shade
Sowing: direct or in nursery in crescent
Depth of sowing: 3 to 4 cm.
Watering: normal
Germination: 3 to 7 days
Transplanting: 30 to 40 days
Harvest: 3 to 4 months on a full moon
Charity: chard, broccoli, corn, lettuce

Turnip

Place: semi-shade
Sowing: direct or in a nursery in the waning quarter
Sowing depth: 3 to 4 cm.
Watering: abundant
Germination: 6 to 8 days
Transplanting: 15 to 20 days
Harvest: 3 months on the new moon
Charity: peas, lettuce, cucumber, beetroot, cabbage
Harmful association: radish

Potato

Location: full sun
Sowing: direct in the waning quarter
Sowing depth: 7 to 8 cm (plant pieces of potato or seed potato)
Watering: normal, one week before harvesting do not water
Germination: 20 to 40 days
Harvest: 3 months on the new moon
Charity: eggplant, corn, broccoli, beans, leek, radish, cabbage, carrot
Harmful association: chili pepper, garlic, peas, strawberry, sunflower, cucumber, watermelon, tomato, pumpkin, Italian squash

Parsley

Place: semi shade
Sowing: direct in crescent
Depth of planting: 1 cm
Watering: normal
Germination: 7 to 25 days
Harvest: 1 month on full moon
Beneficial association: chili pepper, broccoli, green onion, chives, cauliflower, asparagus, corn, bell pepper, beans, cabbage, tomato
Harmful association: coriander, dill, fennel, lettuce, carrot

Leek

Place: semi shade
Sowing: nursery  in the last quarter
Sowing depth: 1 to 2 cm
Watering: normal
Germination: 10 to 12 days
Transplanting: 30 days
Harvest: 4 to 5 months in new moon
Charity: garlic, celery, onion, spinach, strawberry, lettuce, potato, beetroot, cabbage, tomato, carrot
Harmful association: peas, broad beans, beans, radish

Cabbage

Place: full sun
Sowing: in nursery in crescent
Depth of planting: 0.5 cm
Watering: normal
Germination: 6 to 9 days
Transplanting: 30 to 40 days
Harvest: 3 months on full moon
Beneficial association: chard, celery, peas, dill, spinach, broad bean, lettuce, chamomile, mint, bell pepper, turnip, oregano, potato, cucumber, leek, beetroot, rosemary, rue, tomato, thyme
harmful association: garlic, strawberries, beans

Rosemary

Location: full sun
Sowing: in nursery in crescent
Depth of planting: 1 cm
Watering: normal
Germination: 15 to 30 days
Transplanting: 2 months
Harvest: 3 to 4 months on full moon
Beneficial association: cabbage, beans, carrots Harmful
association: none

Rocket

Location: full sun
Sowing: direct in crescent
Depth of sowing: max. 1 cm
Watering: normal
Germination: 8 to 10 days
Harvest: 3 months on full moon
Beneficial association: chard, eggplant, tomato, pepper
Harmful association: radish, cabbage, turnip

Watermelon

Place: full sun
Sowing: direct or nursery in crescent
Depth of sowing: 3 to 4 cm
Watering: normal, avoid wetting leaves
Germination: 6 to 8 days
Transplanting: 1 month
Harvest: 3 to 4 months on full moon
Beneficial association: peas, onions, corn, lettuce Harmful
association: potato

Carrot

Place: semi shade
Sowing: direct in the last quarter
Sowing depth: 1 to 2 cm
Watering: normal
Germination: 12 to 15 days
Harvest: 4 months on the new moon
Charity: chard, garlic, peas, eggplant, onion, broccoli, green onion, chives, cilantro, spinach, beans, cucumber, lettuce, bell pepper, tomato, sage
Harmful association: celery, coriander, dill, parsley, mint, fennel

The democratic system is going through a deep crisis due to the growing influence of economic power. It is no longer necessarily the most qualified people or those with the greatest political experience who access power, but those who have more resources for their campaigns, either by the number of donors or by their own personal fortune.

This phenomenon has generated a significant shift in citizen power. Decisions no longer fall to local political forces or traditional representatives; It is large corporations that, through their domination of economic flows, exert a determining influence on global politics.

The average citizen, constantly exposed to an avalanche of advertising messages, tends to favor candidates with greater media presence. These corporations, which make windfall profits through contracts in strategic sectors such as defense, energy, technology, entertainment, and gambling, have consolidated their power in the political system.

It is imperative to reform this scheme that distorts the essence of democracy and undermines the true decision-making power of the people in strategic matters. The transformation of the current system has become an urgent need to restore democratic balance and give the voice back to the citizenry.

The disconnect between rulers and governance, a product of this dynamic, has generated a growing distrust among citizens, who feel that their voice is drowned in a sea of corporate interests. Democracy, conceived as a system where each individual has a weight in decision-making, becomes a game of chess where the pieces are moved by those who have accumulated enough capital to influence the results. Campaign finance programmes, in many cases, are designed to sustain this vicious cycle, where promises of donor-friendly policies take precedence over the needs of the population.

The dilemma we face is critical: how can the citizen regain his power in a system where his only role seems to be that of receiver of manipulated information and voter in an election limited by economic interests? The solution lies not simply in regulating campaign financing, but in a deeper cultural and political transformation that empowers voters. This includes promoting civic education, encouraging citizen participation in decision-making at more local levels, and transparency in government action.

Likewise, reforms must consider the creation of alternatives to the large political parties dominated by money, allowing new political forces to emerge that truly represent the interests of the citizenry. Voting systems and public participation in elections must be reviewed to ensure that candidates are not only those who have access to large capital, but those who possess a genuine connection to the needs and aspirations of the community.

Finally, to reverse this situation of democratic crisis, it is vital to cultivate a sense of solidarity and shared responsibility among citizens, creating networks of mutual support that encourage the articulation of collective demands. Democracy must be refocused not only as a mechanism of election, but as a continuous process of collaboration and dialogue between citizens and their representatives, where the real power resides in the people. Only in this way will we be able to aspire to a democratic system that is not on a tightrope, but robust, inclusive and truly representative.

What to sow in January?

In January, in the southern hemisphere, with summer at its peak, the specific requirements of each crop to be planted must be taken into account. It is important to learn about the care, watering, weeding and maintenance that each one needs.

In this time of high temperatures, the greatest attention should be on irrigation, as the soil experiences rapid evaporation and the soil tends to dry out. It is advisable to keep the soil moist, which is essential for the correct hydration of crops.

Another factor to consider is pests. You should carry out periodic surveillance, since the combination of humidity and heat, at this time of year, is ideal for the appearance of many insects.

Finally, the garden must be sheltered from the typical summer storms, which usually bring hail and strong winds.

Vegetables of the month of January in the southern hemisphere

Chard

Place: semi shade
Sowing: direct in crescent
Depth of sowing: 2 cm
Watering: normal
Germination: 7 to 9 days
Transplanting: 20 to 40 days
Harvest: 3 months on full moon
Beneficial association: arugula, tomato, carrot, beans Harmful
association: none

Artichoke

Place: semi shade
Sowing: direct or nursery in crescent
Depth of planting: 4 cm
Watering: normal
Germination: 12 to 15 days
Transplanting: 30 days
Harvest: 1 year on full moon
Beneficial association: peas, beans, lettuce, radishes Harmful
association: none

Celery

Place: full sun
Sowing: nursery in crescent
Depth of planting: 0.5 cm
Watering: abundant
Germination: 15 to 20 days
Harvest: 2 months on full moon
Beneficial association: eggplant, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, cucumber, lettuce, beans, leek, cabbage, radish Harmful
association: potato and carrot

Broccoli

Place: semi shade
Sowing: nursery in crescent
Depth of sowing: 1.5 cm
Watering: abundant
Germination: 5 to 10 days
Harvest: 2 to 3 months on full moon
Beneficial association: peas, basil, celery, nasturtium, onion, coriander, dill, lettuce, chamomile, mint, oregano, potato, beans, beetroot, rue, thyme
Harmful association: strawberries, tomato

Onion

Location: full
sun Sowing: direct in the waning quarter
Sowing depth: 1 cm
Watering: abundant
Germination: 10 to 15 days
Harvest: 3 to 6 months on the new moon
Beneficial association: eggplant, broccoli, corn, strawberry, lettuce, melon, cucumber, leek, beetroot, cabbage, watermelon, tomato, carrot, Italian squash
Harmful association: peas, cauliflower, beans

Green onion (chives)

Location: full sun
Sowing: last  quarter seedling
Sowing depth: 1 cm
Watering: abundant
Germination: 10 to 15 days
Transplanting: 20 days
Harvest: 3 to 4 months on the new moon
Charity: tomato, carrot
Harmful association: peas, beans, beans

Chives

Place: semi shade
Sowing: direct in crescent
Depth of sowing: 0.5 cm
Watering: normal
Germination: 12 to 15 days
Transplanting: 30 days
Harvest: 3 months on full moon
Charity:  carrot

Cilantro

Place: semi shade
Sowing: direct in crescent
Depth of sowing: 1 cm
Watering: abundant
Germination: 10 to 12 days
Harvest: 2 months on full moon
Beneficial association: none
Harmful association: none

Cauliflower

Place: full shade
Sowing: nursery in crescent
Depth of sowing: max. 1 cm
Watering: abundant
Germination: 6 to 10 days
Transplanting: 3 months
Harvest: 6 to 7 months on full moon
Beneficial association: basil, celery, parsley, beetroot, beans, tomato
Harmful association: onion, strawberry, potato, cabbage

Lettuce

Place: semi shade
Sowing: direct in crescent
Depth of sowing: 0.5 cm
Watering: normal
Germination: 5 to 10 days
Harvest: 3 months on full moon
Beneficial association: chili pepper, garlic, artichoke, spinach, turnip, broad beans, melon, leek, radish, pumpkin, tomato, rue, cucumber, oregano, cabbage, watermelon
Harmful association: celery, parsley, sunflower, watercress

Melon

Place: semi-shade
Sowing: direct or in nursery in crescent
Depth of sowing: 3 to 4 cm.
Watering: normal
Germination: 3 to 7 days
Transplanting: 30 to 40 days
Harvest: 3 to 4 months on a full moon
Charity: chard, broccoli, corn, lettuce

Turnip

Place: semi-shade
Sowing: direct or in a nursery in the waning quarter
Sowing depth: 3 to 4 cm.
Watering: abundant
Germination: 6 to 8 days
Transplanting: 15 to 20 days
Harvest: 3 months on the new moon
Charity: peas, lettuce, cucumber, beetroot, cabbage
Harmful association: radish

Potato

Location: full sun
Sowing: direct in the waning quarter
Sowing depth: 7 to 8 cm (plant pieces of potato or seed potato)
Watering: normal, one week before harvesting do not water
Germination: 20 to 40 days
Harvest: 3 months on the new moon
Charity: eggplant, corn, broccoli, beans, leek, radish, cabbage, carrot
Harmful association: chili pepper, garlic, peas, strawberry, sunflower, cucumber, watermelon, tomato, pumpkin, Italian squash

Parsley

Place: semi shade
Sowing: direct in crescent
Depth of planting: 1 cm
Watering: normal
Germination: 7 to 25 days
Harvest: 1 month on full moon
Beneficial association: chili pepper, broccoli, green onion, chives, cauliflower, asparagus, corn, bell pepper, beans, cabbage, tomato
Harmful association: coriander, dill, fennel, lettuce, carrot

Beans

Place: full sun
Sowing: direct in crescent
Depth of planting: 3 to 5 cm
Watering: normal, avoid wetting the leaves
Germination: 7 to 10 days
Harvest: 3 months on full moon
Beneficial association: chard, basil, celery, peas, eggplant, corn, cauliflower, spinach, strawberry, lettuce, potato, cucumber, parsley, radish, cabbage, tomato, carrot, pumpkin
Harmful association: garlic, beetroot, broccoli, onion, chives, broad beans, leek

Leek

Place: semi shade
Sowing: nursery  in the last quarter
Sowing depth: 1 to 2 cm
Watering: normal
Germination: 10 to 12 days
Transplanting: 30 days
Harvest: 4 to 5 months in new moon
Charity: garlic, celery, onion, spinach, strawberry, lettuce, potato, beetroot, cabbage, tomato, carrot
Harmful association: peas, broad beans, beans, radish

Cabbage

Place: full sun
Sowing: in nursery in crescent
Depth of planting: 0.5 cm
Watering: normal
Germination: 6 to 9 days
Transplanting: 30 to 40 days
Harvest: 3 months on full moon
Beneficial association: chard, celery, peas, dill, spinach, broad bean, lettuce, chamomile, mint, bell pepper, turnip, oregano, potato, cucumber, leek, beetroot, rosemary, rue, tomato, thyme
harmful association: garlic, strawberries, beans

Rosemary

Location: full sun
Sowing: in nursery in crescent
Depth of planting: 1 cm
Watering: normal
Germination: 15 to 30 days
Transplanting: 2 months
Harvest: 3 to 4 months on full moon
Beneficial association: cabbage, beans, carrots Harmful
association: none

Rocket

Location: full sun
Sowing: direct in crescent
Depth of sowing: max. 1 cm
Watering: normal
Germination: 8 to 10 days
Harvest: 3 months on full moon
Beneficial association: chard, eggplant, tomato, pepper
Harmful association: radish, cabbage, turnip

Watermelon

Place: full sun
Sowing: direct or nursery in crescent
Depth of sowing: 3 to 4 cm
Watering: normal, avoid wetting leaves
Germination: 6 to 8 days
Transplanting: 1 month
Harvest: 3 to 4 months on full moon
Beneficial association: peas, onions, corn, lettuce Harmful
association: potato

Carrot

Place: semi shade
Sowing: direct in the last quarter
Sowing depth: 1 to 2 cm
Watering: normal
Germination: 12 to 15 days
Harvest: 4 months on the new moon
Charity: chard, garlic, peas, eggplant, onion, broccoli, green onion, chives, cilantro, spinach, beans, cucumber, lettuce, bell pepper, tomato, sage
Harmful association: celery, coriander, dill, parsley, mint, fennel

Zucchini (Italian zapalalo)

Location: full sun
Sowing: direct or nursery in crescent
Depth of sowing: 2 cm
Watering: normal, avoid wetting leaves
Germination: 5 to 10 days
Transplanting: 30 to 40 days
Harvest: 3 months on full moon
Beneficial association: basil, onion
Harmful association: potato, cucumber

How fake news deceives the mind: a Conicet study proposes keys to combat disinformation

The author of the study, Guillermo Solovey, presented the results at the last Annual Meeting of the Argentine Society for Research in Neurosciences, which was held in Buenos Aires.

One of the most striking findings is that people with more cognitive reflection have more bias, that is, they believe in what coincides with their beliefs.

Thefake news(fake news) spreads fasterand reach more people than true stories, according to a study published in the journalScience. Thus, they have the potential to harm people and society by, for example, fostering distrust in vaccination. Because of the risk that this represents,William Solovey, researcher at the Institute of Calculus (Conicet-UBA), is dedicated to studying how disinformation works and spreads.

"When there is information that we would like to be true, we have a tendency to believe it. This has an evolutionary and adaptive reason for being of the human being. That is why we need more initiatives related to changing the amount of false information that circulates and educating citizens more," the researcher introduced in dialogue with the CyTA-Leloir Agency.

Solovey spoke at the XXXIX Annual Meeting of the Argentine Society for Research in Neurosciences (SAN), which took place a few days ago in Buenos Aires. There he presented the results of one of his researches, published in 2023 inScientific Reports, about how disinformation works particularly on political issues.

Previous evidence suggested two important factors in explaining why people believe fake news. On the one hand, partisanship, that is, loyalty to an ideological group or identification with a political party. On the other, cognitive reflection, which is the ability to think analytically or reflexively before believing in something.

"Our work asks why people believe false information," Solovey summarized and explained that, when fine-tuning, two situations can be distinguished. "There are those who believe in things that are not true because they are unable to differentiate false information, either because they do not know, do not know or cannot distinguish it. It's like being at a bus stop and you see 64 and 39 from afar. Although the information reaches your eye, you do not have the ability to distinguish them and you are going to make mistakes. Sometimes you're going to say 39, sometimes 64 and sometimes 69."

Second, Solovey added, there are those who have a tendency to say that things are false or that everything is true. "Very credulous or very distrustful people, who need to have a very strong level of evidence to accept that something is true," he added. The idea of their study was to see how these two scenarios are modified among people who have more capacity for cognitive reflection.

To do this, Solovey's team conducted a test with 1353 people who evaluated whether verified statements – true or false – made by politicians were true or not. Indeed, they found that people tend to believe statements more if they agree with the politician who said them in a clear and strong relationship (partisanship). On the other hand, those who think more analytically are a bit more skeptical and tend to question statements more.

One of the most striking findings of the work was that the relationship between cognitive reflection and the ability to distinguish between truth and lies was neither very strong nor clear. "Those who had more cognitive reflection, at the same time had a little more partisan bias, they believed in what coincided with their beliefs," said the researcher.

In short, while thinking critically helps a bit to be more skeptical, partisanship is still the strongest factor in people believing a statement, even if it's false. "Even if the person has a high level of cognitive reflection, if they have a very high partisanship, it does not matter if the news is false, they will tend to believe it. In fact, this is even more accentuated if people have more cognitive reflection. Therefore, having more capacity for analytical thinking, critical thinking, cognitive reflection at some point is not obvious that it is an individual characteristic that favors distinguishing what is true or what is a lie because in any case it can accentuate partisanship, the tendency to believe everything that coincides with what one thinks,"  Solovey explained.

Regarding possible solutions to the problem of disinformation, the researcher clarified that options to mitigate it are being studied, but "there is still no universal strategy, a key." Quickly correcting false information that circulates or pre-announcing false information that can circulate on the networks is a possible path. He also mentioned initiatives that have to do with educating citizens and providing digital or media literacy tools. "They are important so that people are prepared and can also find what is false," he concluded.

SOURCE: CyTA-Leloir Agency

How will AI impact employment, skills, wages, and productivity?

Artificial intelligence (AI) has generated mixed opinions in recent years. Many people fear that AI will replace their jobs, but the reality is that AI will not take away jobs, but will transform the way we work. The evolution of AI has shifted from performing simple tasks, such as classifying emails, to more complex systems that can interact and solve problems. Tools such as virtual assistants and grammar correction applications have improved everyday processes, while technologies such as ChatGPT and DALL· E help generate creative content.

Instead of replacing humans, AI helps to be more productive and creative, leading to a change in work dynamics. Companies are looking for professionals who adapt and use these tools to automate repetitive tasks, increase creativity and optimize decisions. The real challenge is whether workers will know how to integrate AI into their work.

Understanding the new paradigms of artificial intelligence (AI) is essential for the benefit of society. The future of human-machine interaction will depend on our current decisions. Innovation is constant and cannot be stopped; AI will continue to advance and could reach a point where it surpasses human intelligence. Despite the fact that there are "open-source" AI tools such as Meta's Llama 2, these are still controlled by large tech companies in their own favor.

Since the launch of ChatGPT, we have seen a rapid increase in its popularity, reaching 100 million active users in just a few months. On the other hand, AI will also create new job opportunities, especially in fields such as data science and AI programming, with a projection of 97 million new jobs due to digital transformation. As AI evolves, it will begin to take on more complex tasks, including in creative areas, changing our perception of work and posing new challenges in the society-machine relationship.

With the advent of autonomous taxis in San Francisco, conflicts are likely to arise between autonomous vehicles and humans, sparking debates about liability in accident cases. There are also discussions about whether AI should have rights or legal personality, with some advocating considering them as entities with rights, while others oppose it.

The issue of ethics in AI was addressed by UNESCO in 2021, where recommendations were established to ensure that AI is a resource for all humanity. Ethics and regulation are central to the development of AI, as issues such as algorithmic discrimination and privacy are central concerns that need to be addressed.

As AI systems become more integrated into society, there is a need to question what, if any, rights should be granted to them. This is a complex issue that requires reflection in this new chapter of technological and labor evolution. Humanity's ability to adapt to technology will be key, and it is crucial to address these challenges ethically and responsibly so that AI benefits everyone, establishing appropriate regulations for its development. If we don't control their growth, we risk losing the ability to do so in the future

'Noah's Ark' seen in 3D

The boat-shaped formation, which was discovered 60 years ago in Doğubeyazıt, was photographed in 3D by geophysicist Larsen and computer engineer and archaeologist Jones.

Noah's Ark was first discovered by Map Captain İlhan Durupınar on September 11, 1959, while working on the Doğubeyazıt map at the General Directorate of Cartography.

The 3D images of the boat-shaped formation, which was discovered in 1959 in the Doğubeyazıt district of Ağrı, analyzed by New Zealand geophysicist John Larsen and American computer engineer and archaeologist Andrew Jones for the first time, opened a new door in the scientific world about Noah's Ark, the reality of which has been a source of curiosity for centuries.

Noah's Ark, whose existence is also mentioned in the holy books, is a legend for some and a phenomenon waiting to be proven for others.

After this discovery was published in international newspapers and magazines, the world's foremost photogrammetry and earth scientist, Prof. Dr. Arthur Brandenberger of Ohio University and Dr. George Vandeman of the Washington Institute of Archaeological Research, a Swedish journalist and 3 European businessmen came to Doğubeyazıt to examine Noah's Ark with the financial support of the Union of Churches.

During their research, the delegation and Durupınar, who headed them, learned from villagers that this form arose as a result of a landslide in 1945 while cultivating a field.

At the end of the working days, the committee prepared an 8-page report, but Durupınar received a half-page "fabricated" report. The laboratory results of the pieces removed from the ship remained a mystery.

Ara Güler posted her first photo.

The honor of taking the first photograph of Noah's Ark and sharing it with world public opinion was bestowed on world-famous photojournalist Ara Güler. The 3rd District in Erzurum. Güler, who took Noah's Ark out of the sky with the military plane assigned to him by Army Command, described that moment years later by saying: "If this is the trace of Noah's Ark, it is like seeing God below."

The first scientific research was carried out 26 years after its discovery, by Dr. Salih Bayraktutan of Erzurum Atatürk University and scientists from the University of California's "Los Alamos National Laboratory," the largest earth and space science research center in the United States.

As a result of this study, which was carried out with the support of the Prime Minister's Office, the "ship's hull" was detected for the first time in underground radar images and an 80-page scientific report was produced.

In the report, "We have obtained findings that cannot be said of this underground hull as 'Not the hull of a ship.' There is a high probability that this underground mass is a ship. In-depth archaeological excavations should begin as soon as possible, before winter arrives."

Although no more detailed studies were carried out after the report, the area where the ship's trail was found, which exactly matched the measurements in the holy books, was declared a 1st grade protected area with Bayraktutan's initiative.

His documentary resonated

The formal existence of Noah's Ark has continued to arouse curiosity despite the years that have passed, although not much research has been done on it.

One of those who pursued this mystery was documentary filmmaker Cem Sertesen. Sertesen, who saw Noah's Ark for the first time on August 10, 1995 in Doğubeyazıt, where he went to shoot another documentary, lit the fuse of the documentary he would make that day.

Sertesen, who interviewed İlhan Durupınar, Ara Güler and Muazzez İlmiye Çiğ, took 22 years to bring this documentary to the public. In 2017, the documentary managed to be among the top ten films out of 750 films at the 9th edition of the TRT Documentary Awards.

Sertesen, who wrote the intriguing story of the documentary together with the deputy director of Culture and Tourism of Ağrı Province, Erkan Kösedağ, brought the reader the book "Noah's Ark: The Discovery of the Century".

After this book, the book "We Were All in the Same Boat," which also includes scientific reports and articles, took its place on the shelves. Sertesen's documentary and books have once again drawn attention to the region.

Underground images in AA for the first time.

Cem Sertesen shared with AA the images of the research, which constitutes the most important part of the documentary "Noah's Ark-2", which he continues to produce in the light of scientific studies.

American computer engineer and archaeologist Andrew Jones managed to record the 3D image of Noah's Ark, which he began tracing when he was a university student at the age of 17, with John Larsen, a geophysicist, geographer, academic and also an expert in underground images from New Zealand.

In 2014, after two weeks of measurements, the hull of the underground ship was detected in 3D and the investigation was completed in 3 years.

The scientists, who conducted this study independently, gave the data and images they obtained to Sertesen for use in his second documentary.

In an interview for the documentary, Jones said they arrived in the area in 2014 as a team from New Zealand and the United States, scanning the area with a device that uses electric current to show what lies beneath the trail of Noah's Ark.

Explaining that this 3D image came about after processing the images a few years later, Jones said:

"This image is the actual data of the image of Noah's Ark found underground. These images are neither fake nor a simulation. This image is the actual data showing the entire ship buried underground.

Any scientist who is an expert in the subject can do this study and come to this conclusion that we have reached. Yes, this structure is an ark, but it's too early to call it Noah's Ark. We have to do a very extensive job. This can only happen with the support of universities and the Turkish state."

"This study was done to mobilize the scientific community"

Speaking to the Anadolu Agency (AA) correspondent about the latest scientific study, Sertesen said that after three years of work, American and New Zealand scientists revealed the photo of that trail underground.

Stating that foreigners highly value Noah's Ark, Sertesen continued his words as follows:

The scientists collected tens of thousands of data by sending electrical signals underground with wires that they placed inch by inch on the 150-meter-long, 50-meter-wide track. The result is an underground 3D image. Scientists did this work to mobilize the scientific community."

"It must be protected from landslides"

Recalling that the age of Noah's Flood has not yet been found, Sertesen explained that geophysicists stated that "in the investigations carried out in that region (Noah's Ark), parts such as the biopsy must be taken and the age of the seeds and plants must be determined."

Sertesen continued his words as follows:

"I'm very curious about the inside of Noah's Ark. What's inside the image of the underground ship? That's because scientists said they had identified three floors of the craft.

Some of the scientists say, 'Don't touch it, the landslide continues in the region.' First, this shape must be protected from landslides. Because if the form is distorted, there is no humor in it. Every pickaxe, every shovel that is hit there is a dagger that will be stuck in the heart of this."

POVERTY RESEARCH, EMANCIPATORY SOCIAL SCIENCE, AND CRITICAL THINKING

The dominant perspective of the interest in poverty has been based on the intention to counteract the most extreme effects of an exclusionary development strategy that generates inequality. In other words, it is a matter of alleviating the most pathetic effects of liberal development in order to prevent conflicts and destabilizing social movements. Currently, research on poverty is dominated by classical economists who limit it within their concepts of well-being and utility (understood purely as an adjusted income scale per equivalent adult), which leaves them blind to take into account the existence of needs other than material needs, such as emotional needs, and sources of well-being other than conventional economic ones.  such as time and knowledge.

Thus, what they really care about is defining minimalist poverty lines to minimize measured poverty and maintain the status quo. By pretending that the threshold doesn't matter, they try to minimize attacks on those thresholds. A critical research perspective on poverty, on the other hand, would coincide with the one opened by Julio Boltvinik, in which poverty is part of the axis of the standard of living that constitutes the economic perspective of the axis of human flourishing.

Some important features in research on inequality

The hegemonic perspective proposes a type of development as a solution to inequality. Based on data from the end of the last century and the beginning of the present, they show that several of the countries of Latin America have experienced decreases in economic inequality measured by the Gini coefficient of household income, which is assumed as a positive result of the structural adjustment dictated by the Washington Consensus and is converted into the concept of development from international organizations such as the World Bank (WB) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Marshall's classic work gave an account of a new "institutionalized social inequality" because, in describing the way in which, in today's societies, the capitalist class system has been at war with citizenship, he finds that these societies try to organize themselves to maximize the minimum level of well-being for all, finding that historically civil citizenship has developed first,  then the political and finally the social. Thus, it includes social rights such as equality of status, which refers to the recognition of citizens as holders of certain social rights for the simple fact of being citizens and shows that a minimum floor of "welfare" has been established  (education system, social services, social security, etc.), which is not necessarily low. A minimum floor that must ensure the equal status of citizens, so that it is possible to start from the assumption that class inequality is acceptable if equality of citizenship is recognized.

Cortés has proposed the notion of "equality by impoverishment" as a way of explaining the apparent trend of reducing inequality. He considers that the decrease in inequality indicators is explained by a process of increased self-exploitation by the lowest deciles, whose incomes are already so low that they resort to a series of "strategies" or emergent survival actions, but this decrease in economic inequality does not mean an improvement in terms of general well-being for the population.  or the triumph of the development model.

Erik Olin Wright (EOW) does not consider that inequality is a consequence of individual attributes (such as intelligence, education, motivation) but of the way in which the production system is organized around mechanisms of exploitation.

Finally, we face the problem of one-dimensionality in the common measurements of social inequality, by only taking into account the dimension of income, as is the case with poverty, in accordance with the hegemonic vision in this regard. Although the recognition of poverty as a multidimensional phenomenon has grown, simple methodological strategies that reduce the object of study to a single dimension (income) remain hegemonic, despite the fact that they often appear disguised as multidimensional.

Critical Research

 Critical Inquiry should be concerned with the inquiry into poverty and inequality as the first of these lines of empirical research that is possible, that is, that intellectually and socially we have the capacity to address, and that is necessary for the development of a critique of the conditions that hinder human self-realization.

Diagnosis and critique of reductionist approaches to poverty and inequality

This diagnosis and critique includes the identification of the causal processes by which institutions and social structures reproduce inequality and human suffering. If, as Julio Boltvinik affirms, the two main obstacles to human flourishing are poverty and alienation, their consideration acquires primary importance, since they are the main manifestations of the process of suffering that systematically impedes human development. Boltvinik has shown that "the concept of poverty and, therefore, its translation into measurements, is not evident". He relates that orthodox economics has developed a biased conceptualization based on income (the monetary solution, he calls it), as if it were the only source of well-being.

For this reason, it is necessary to develop based on the critical discussion of human needs and nature, which overcomes the reductionist approaches of the monetary solution, and broadens the perspective.

The biological approach formulated by Rowntree at the end of the nineteenth century conceives of "primary poverty" as the condition of people who do not have sufficient income to maintain physical efficiency. The second subsumes the concept of poverty in that of inequality. Sen points out that, despite being related, they are different problems and concepts. A third concept is that of relative deprivation, which Sen finds fruitful, and points out that it can refer to both feelings  and conditions of deprivation. He adds that both are interrelated and points out the importance of the criteria for choosing reference groups that are not, he points out, independent of political activity in the community studied, since the feeling of deprivation is linked to their expectations, to their notion of what is fair and their notion of who has the right to what. But here he introduces the position that gave rise to his important debate with Townsend by pointing out that relative deprivation cannot be the only basis of the concept of poverty, because "there is an irreducible core in our idea of poverty." The fourth concept conceives poverty as a value judgment of the observer. Sen rejects the position that poverty, like beauty, is in the eye of the perceiver, and responds that the social researcher describes existing prescriptions and that this is not an act of prescription but of description. Sen provides here another of his valuable distinctions: between the prescriptive and the descriptive. However, the observation of existing prescriptions is not obvious and the prescriptions are vague, which makes it inevitable that the researcher will complement them with well-founded value judgments. Due to the weight in the methodological training of researchers in logical positivism, in academia avoiding value judgments is the predominant position. A fifth concept, the definition of politics,  conceives poverty as that which can be combated from the political sphere.

From sociology, Peter Towsend defines poverty according to the individual's lack of resources to achieve socially accustomed patterns of life and consumption. However, in Chapter VI of this same work, Townsend (in his eagerness to define a scientific method of measuring poverty), reduces the indicators of this lifestyle to indicators that reveal the objective poverty line and adopts this as the only metric for measuring poverty.

As can be seen, the perspectives on poverty share, to a large extent, the income bias of orthodox economists protected by the postulates of classical theory. They start from the assumption that well-being (utility) is the constituent element of the standard of living, therefore, income crosses across the economists' poverty measurements, even when they make adjustments to the adjusted income scale per person or equivalent adult. All this makes its postulates endogenous.

For Márkus the constitutive element is the development of essential human forces: needs and capacities (realization of the human essence); for Maslow, the satisfaction of basic needs and self-realization (self-realization); for Fromm, the full realization of the faculties of reason, love and productive work (human birth); for Max Neef et al., the realization of fundamental human needs (quality of life); for Doyal and Gough, minimally disabled participation in their way of life (preconditions of human flourishing); for Sen, the capability set or freedom of well-being, understood as the freedom to choose between forms of life or combinations of functionings (axis of standard of living plus health).

In conclusion, the hegemonic perspectives of the study of poverty and inequality are reductionist because their vision of satisfiers is very limited (it does not take into account the subject's relationships and activities); in the same way, their vision of resources or sources of well-being only takes into account conventional economic resources and leaves out the available time and the knowledge and skills of the subject. And, above all, it is reductionist because it reduces the vision of human needs to those closest to those of animals.

At the end of the day, they could ask us: how does combating poverty and inequality bring us closer to emancipation? Our view is that: the division between means and ends is artificial; Quantitative changes determine the direction in which qualitative changes are possible. Qualitative changes are preceded by the accumulation of a series of quantitative changes. In this sense we do not pursue any kind of qualitative change, but an emancipatory qualitative change, so the meaning of quantitative changes needs to be equally emancipatory.

The meaning of the means we use in the struggle for social transformation determines the meaning or character of the transformation we are capable of achieving. A non-democratic political organization seeking a democratic transformation of the organization will likely fail in its formal objectives if it succeeds in seizing political power in society. Alleviating the effects caused by poverty and inequality allows the development of new, more developed capacities and needs, which at the same time make them possible for new transformations. Thus, adopting a broad concept of poverty is what leads us to the possibility of proposing viable alternatives in the short and medium term that, in the long term, allow and push for an emancipatory qualitative transformation.

(Máximo Jaramillo, Pável Diaz, René Jaimez)

Retail sales fell again in November

They were 1.7% lower than the same month in 2023. Year-end sales would bring relief to retail trade

After having rebounded in October, SME retail sales fell 1.7% year-on-year in November and accumulate a contraction of 12.2% in the first 11 months of the year. In the monthly comparison they grew 3.9%. The exit from the recession is not yet a fact and there are sectors that are still in the red. It is pointed out that this month there will be improvements for the Fiestas.

This is according to the SME Retail Sales Index of the Argentine Confederation of Medium-sized Enterprises (CAME). Last month, businesses reported that they received price increases from some suppliers and that, to compensate, they implemented promotions that managed to maintain stability in various areas.

In November, five of the seven items surveyed registered year-on-year declines in sales. The largest contraction was detected in Perfumery (-15.4%), followed by Pharmacies (-10.4%) and Bazaar, decoration, home textiles (-9.4%). On the other hand, Food and beverages (+4.4%) and Footwear and Leather Goods (+2.6%) rose.

These falls and the difficulty of the economy to take off are reflected in other indicators. For example, according to Indec, the manufacturing industrial production index (manufacturing IPI) for October showed a 2% drop compared to the same month in 2023. The accumulated of 2024 presented a decrease of 11.6% and compared to September, the variation was negative by 0.8 percent.

It should be noted that two activity indicators surveyed by Indec and reported on Friday gave negative values in October.

The Synthetic Indicator of Construction Activity (ISAC) registered a 24.5% year-on-year decline and 29% year-to-date. Compared to the same month in 2023, there were decreases of 51.2% in ceramic sanitary ware; 34.9% in granite and calcareous mosaics; 32.9% in round iron and steels for construction; 27.3% in processed concrete; 27.2% in the rest of the inputs (includes taps, seamless steel pipes and glass for construction); 27.0% in gypsum; 26.3% in hollow bricks; 24.2% in ceramic floors and cladding; 19.9% in Portland cement; 16.6% on asphalt; 12.8% in plasterboard; 9.6% in construction paints; and 4.9% in lime.

The Manufacturing Industrial Production Index (IPIM) surveyed by the official statistical agency also showed a fall of 2% in October and 11.6% for the accumulated of the first ten months, with falls in 11 of the 16 divisions covered, including double-digit negative variations in "Non-metallic mineral products" (-16.8%(; "Basic metal industries" (-11.4), "Rubber and plastic products" (-12) and "Metal products" (-12.3). The manufacturing items that showed positive variations were "Food and beverages" (6.9%); "Petroleum refining, coke and nuclear fuel" (12.4), "Motor vehicles, bodies, trailers and auto parts" (4.7), "Other transport equipment" (9.2) and "Tobacco products" (7%).

By category

As for the different items of SME retail sales for November surveyed by CAME, the outlook is as follows:

Food and beverages

Sales of food and beverages rose 4.4% year-on-year in November and accumulated a 14.5% drop in the first eleven months of the year compared to the same period in 2023. In the month-on-month comparison, they were 0.1% above October.

"The sector was satisfied with the behavior of demand in the penultimate month of the year, although it expressed concern about the increases in meat prices, particularly in the last week of the month. This factor raises concerns about a possible decrease in sales during the end of the year holidays. Likewise, informal sales were pointed out as a relevant issue, since businesses reported an unusual increase in their activity," said CAME.

Bazaar, Decoration, Home Textiles & Furniture

Sales in this area fell 9.4% year-on-year in November and add up to a decline of 14.6% in the first eleven months of 2024. Compared to October, sales grew 3.4%.

The sector's overall expectations improved due to price stability and the boost of promotions, which made it easier to obtain liquidity. The businesses consulted by CAME indicated an increase in the supply of imported products, which has made it possible to offer more competitive prices to the consumer. However, the furniture sector was particularly affected, registering minimum sales levels during the month.

Footwear and leather goods

Footwear sales improved by 2.6% year-on-year, and accumulated a 7.2% drop in 2024. Compared to October, they rose 3.4%.

Businesses increased promotions and reduced prices to boost sales, especially in lower-value products. This generated greater movement in the market. However, border cities did not experience the same impact. In the businesses surveyed, they pointed out that, despite the sales, consumers choose to make their purchases in neighboring countries, where they perceive better opportunities, especially in towns near Chile.

Textiles and clothing

In this area, one of the most affected by both the recession as it is non-essential consumption and the opening of imports, sales fell 0.8% year-on-year in November and accumulate an increase of 1.4% in the first eleven months of the year compared to the same period in 2023. In the month-on-month comparison, they increased 3%.

The promotions and sales on many products were attractive, which generated interest, but when it came to making the purchase, doubt and postponement prevailed. Despite this, the stores surveyed maintain positive expectations for December.

Pharmacy

Pharmacy sales decreased 10.4% year-on-year in November and total a 22.1% drop in the first eleven months of the year compared to the same period in 2023. In the month-on-month measurement, they grew 3.2%.

CAME specified: "The reduction in demand was mainly recorded in non-essential products, such as dietary supplements and hair care products, as well as in expensive and specialized treatments, such as medications for chronic diseases."

Perfumery

Perfumery sales fell 15.4% year-on-year, and until November they registered a decline of 28%, compared to the same period in 2023. In relation to October, there was an increase of 6.8%.

Pharmacy and perfumery are two of the sectors most affected by the fall in purchasing power

"Consumers focused their purchase on essential products, leaving aside items considered luxury, such as perfumes and high-end beauty products. In addition, the growth of e-commerce, with its frequent discounts and promotions, diverted some spending from physical stores to online platforms. Although many perfumeries implemented marketing strategies, such as special promotions or new product launches, the results were limited," CAME said.

Hardware, electrical materials and building materials

Sales declined 2.1% year-on-year in November and the contraction through November reached 13.1%. In the month-on-month comparison, they increased 2.5%.

In the shops measured, they observed a slight cooling in the construction industry, with delays in projects and less investment in infrastructure, which affected the demand for materials. The main delays came from residential projects, which also had a negative impact on hardware stores and electrical materials, which did not perform well in November.

On the other hand, CAME highlighted the obstacles faced by SMEs: in November, 50.6% pointed to the lack of sales, 31.3% placed it to high production and logistics costs, 8.3% referred to obstacles to accessing credit, and 4.3% to collection problems, which in some areas such as Food and Beverages was more important than in others.

The tax burden continued to be the main problem for businesses and, as throughout the year, measures are being demanded to strengthen domestic demand.

The Swing of the Innocents.

 We are essentially witnessing how revolts of consciousness, first the "resistance" to the totalitarian integration that continues in the world and then the necessary "revolution" (a change of orientation in human becoming, rather than as a bloody redistribution of privileges), these will undoubtedly give preference to the defensive thesis, to the defense of man.

Yes, without a doubt, but also a conflict of generations, which the critics do not seem to have noticed.

Exacerbated disenchantment and the will to affirm, in the only aspect within their reach, their absolute independence with respect to the world of values they denied. Later, their need to protest against a rotten civilization took the most "constructive" form of a doctrine and a practice that entailed, after an initial anarchist stage, libertarian adherence, (which had become the number one phantom of the bourgeoisie). The judgment and noisy exclusion of rebellious members; the search for the economic, the cult of the market, the destruction of the state, etc. They have their resultant, a kind of black religion, in a somewhat heretical chapel associated with the Austrian school of economics.

We must recognize the members of the libertarian group, who did not exceed 30.15%, in a first election before the runoff, a considerable sum of energy and talents; Most of them made their way and managed to impose on the environmental culture, to a not inconsiderable extent, the forms of the style and the brand of the movement. In fact, thousands of young rebels collected and preserved something of the imperious example and personal influence of Milei and his friends. The latter's attachment to an equally brilliant past is conceived, and his desire to perpetuate it, despite the dispersion of the co-founders, with new elements. In reality, after an eclipse, the LLA group was reconstituted, composed mainly of young people in the midst of whom Milei and Villaroel played the role of glorious older brothers.

Ideology is very often complementary and compensatory rather than expressive of the truest tendencies; here the main issue is rather the conflict between the classical temperament, which tends towards economy and the concentration of means around a precise goal, and romanticism. Man pushes his destiny from one error to the opposite error, struggles endlessly against gravity and is tempted by despair. The solution of the human exception to universal laws involves two aspects, sacrifice  or rebellion.

Absurd man, in the face of nature, must persevere in his "absurdity." But man's revolt, beyond sacrifice, also contains his temptation. This temptation is murder, by which man identifies himself with historical necessity and sacrifices – in his blind struggle against the reason of things embodied by the reason of State or by the legislative nature – his wayward brother, a rebel "absurd" like himself. The rebellious man must not usurp the functions of nature or history, but limit himself to the creative affirmation of solidarity: "I rebel, therefore we are." He must recognize that his revolt is not that of the absolute self, but that of human nature, and that it implies, with the intransigent purity of the means, the limitation of ends. The disposition of the other by the self, the transformation of the other into a thing or property of the Stirnerian "One", is thus rejected. Moreover, he sees in it the very root of the social world of authority and arbitrariness, insofar as it is opposed to the world of free contract. This only exists if the rebel recognizes, even in the adversary, a fraternal self.

What do I need and what means do I have to transform the world? This desire, of immense scope, can only give rise to despair or to a new and more complex alienation. It is a question of changing life, an act that starts neither from a central idea nor from objective necessity, but which has as its seat the ego, this truly individual reality, a factor unknown to Marx and Stirner, which Freud recognized as peripheral, as is essentially the nervous system in the body as a whole. Apart from this conscious activity, located at the limits of being, the transformation of the world will always be done against us; it will be the work of the species or of history, but not ours.

Between experimental reform and revolution made or dreamed of once and for all; between the effort of free culture that demands a different interpretation of the world and the effort of destruction in which its change dialectically resides; Between the precise rejection of some acts in the name of an inner imperative that establishes a "measure" and the general, but diffuse, insurrection of desire against the principle of reality, accompanied by a tacit pact with everything that calls it into question, intelligence and feeling can waver, and youth can choose by temperament. But it is to be assumed that the tradition of our country and the situation will both act in favor of the first part of the alternative.

Bitter benevolent irony and contemptuous enthusiasm clash once again. The "infamous" that had to be crushed according to the fanaticism against which he concentrated all his efforts, even more dangerous than the spirit of compromise against which they rise up, animated by revolutionary intolerance. Subjected to the totalitarian temptation of a world tailored to an ideology, but, recovering quickly, they had as their main title of glory, to oppose the humanitarian aid network and to embody the constant skepticism and generosity at the same time of our people.