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TOKYO, June 30 — Our species arose in Africa roughly 300,000 years ago and later trekked worldwide, eventually reaching some of Earth’s most remote places. In doing so, our ancestors surmounted geographic barriers including treacherous ocean expanses. But how did they do that with only rudimentary technology available to them?
Scientists now have undertaken an experimental voyage across a stretch of the East China Sea, paddling from Ushibi in eastern Taiwan to Japan’s Yonaguni Island in a dugout canoe to demonstrate how such a trip may have been accomplished some 30,000 years ago as people spread to various Pacific Islands.
The researchers simulated methods Palaeolithic people would have used and employed replicas of tools from that prehistoric time period such as an axe and a cutting implement called an adze in fashioning the 25-foot-long (7.5-metre) canoe, named Sugime, from a Japanese cedar tree chopped down at Japan’s Noto Peninsula.
Researcher Kunihiro Amemiya uses a period-accurate axe to chop down a Japanese cedar tree in Noto Peninsula, Japan, to make a dugout canoe for a crossing across a region of the East China Sea from Taiwan to Yonaguni Island, in this handout image released on June 25, 2025. — Yousuke Kaifu handout pic via Reuters
A crew of four men and one woman paddled the canoe on a voyage lasting more than 45 hours, traveling roughly 140 miles (225km) across the open sea and battling one of the world’s strongest ocean currents, the Kuroshio. The crew endured extreme fatigue and took a break for several hours while the canoe drifted at sea, but managed to complete a safe crossing to Yonaguni.
Just as prehistoric people would have, the voyagers navigated by the sun and stars, as well as the direction of the ocean swells, though for safety’s sake they were accompanied by two escort craft. Yonaguni is part of the Ryukyu chain of islands stretching from Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan’s four main islands, down to Taiwan.
The researchers previously failed with attempted crossings using reed rafts and then bamboo rafts, finding that they were too slow, insufficiently durable and unable to overcome the strong ocean current.
A dugout canoe is pictured before departure on a crossing across a region of the East China Sea to Yonaguni Island, with leaf wave guards at the bow and stern, near Ushibi, Taiwan, in this handout image released on June 25, 2025. — Yousuke Kaifu handout pic via Reuters
“Through the project with many failures, we have learned the difficulties of crossing the ocean, and this experience gave us a deep respect for our Palaeolithic ancestors,” said University of Tokyo anthropologist Yousuke Kaifu, lead author of the study published on Wednesday in the journal Science Advances.
“We found that the Palaeolithic people could cross the sea with the strong ocean current if they had dugout canoes and were skilful, experienced paddlers and navigators. They had to face the risk of being drifted by the strong ocean current and the possibility that they would never be able to come back to their homeland,” added Kaifu, who was aboard one of the escort boats.
Archaeological evidence indicates that people approximately 30,000 years ago first crossed from Taiwan to some of the Ryukyu islands, which include Okinawa. But scientists had puzzled over how they could do this with the rudimentary technology of the time — no maps, no metal tools and only primitive vessels. And the Kuroshio current, comparable in strength to the Gulf Stream off Mexico, presented a particular challenge.
The research was in the vein of the famous 1947 Kon-Tiki expedition in which Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl carried out a much longer journey by raft from South America across the Pacific to the Polynesian islands. Heyerdahl aimed to show how prehistoric people from the Americas could have colonised Polynesia.
An axe accurate to a period of 30,000 years ago, that scientists used to make a dugout canoe for a crossing across a region of the East China Sea from Taiwan near Ushibi to Yonaguni Island, traversing the Kuroshio current, is seen at Noto Peninsula, Japan, in this handout image released on June 25, 2025. — Yousuke Kaifu handout pic via Reuters
“His theory is now countered by a series of pieces of evidence, but it was a great trial at the time. Compared to the time of the Kon-Tiki, we have more archaeological and other evidence to build realistic models” of prehistoric voyages, Kaifu said.
The researchers in a companion study published in the same journal used simulations of sea conditions between Taiwan and Yonaguni 30,000 years ago to examine whether such a crossing was attainable at a time when the Kuroshio was even more powerful than today.
“As our paleo-ocean model simulation showed, crossing the Kuroshio was possible in ancient times, so I believe they achieved it,” said physical oceanographer and study lead author Yu-Lin Chang of the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology.
“However, ocean conditions were highly variable. Thus, ancient people may have encountered unpredictable weather conditions during their journey, which could have led to failure,” Chang added. — Reuters
KARACHI: As evening settles over Karachi, a white and green rickshaw-turned-food truck named Sombrero parks quietly on the city’s bustling Seaview beach.
Soon, the aromas of spiced meat and soft corn tortillas begin emanating from the cart, suggesting a seasoned chef at work.
But the man behind the counter is a top police officer with bullet wounds and decades of service in Pakistan’s most volatile regions.
Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Usman Siddiqui has spent 23 years chasing kidnappers, leading raids on criminal hideouts and running anti-corruption and narcotics operations across Pakistan’s Sindh and Balochistan provinces. Now, in a surprising second act, Siddiqui and his wife run a food cart, serving Mexican tacos, corn and flour tortillas filled with meat, vegetables, and condiments like salsa or sour cream.
“We made these tacos at home and they turned out to be really good,” Siddiqui told Arab News. “Friends encouraged us to set up at the Karachi Eat festival in 2022 and the response was immense.”
The idea eventually grew into Sombrero, first launched as a delivery service and then as a street food cart stationed in the Bukhari Commercial Area and at Seaview.
Each evening, Siddiqui and his wife, Hubna Usman, personally oversee its operation, ensuring everything from prep to quality control is handled with care.
“She takes the truck out at 6 or 630pm. It’s here [at Bukhari] till about 9-930pm and then it goes to Seaview McDonald’s until 1am,” Siddiqui explained.
FROM THE FRONTLINES TO THE FRYER
Born in Shikarpur, a historic city in Sindh, Siddiqui joined the police force in 2002 and has since held key positions, including Inspector General of Balochistan Prisons, Director General of Narcotics Control, and Director of Anti-Corruption. He has also served as Senior Superintendent of Police in seven districts, including two stints in Balochistan.
Much of his work has involved high-risk assignments, including the rescue of kidnapped children and operations against organized crime.
“The most satisfaction I get is when I rescue kidnapping victims, especially kids,” Siddiqui said. “Someone’s child is kidnapped. It’s a very tormenting situation for the entire family.”
He also survived a gunbattle in 2015 in which nine fellow officers were killed.
“I took a bullet in my arm,” he recalled quietly. “It was a very difficult encounter.”
Though few expect a police official to run a food cart, Siddiqui said cooking has always been his passion.
“I cook myself, even when I’m with my family at home,” he said. “There are certain things that I cook better than most of my staff, even if they’re trained professionals.”
AUTHENTICIY
Mexican cuisine, especially tacos, caught the couple’s interest after friends asked for a themed dinner.
“There was a lot of space for Mexican food,” Siddiqui said. “Nobody is doing it here, right? Nobody is doing it right.”
Indeed, tacos remain a novelty in Pakistan.
“Me and Usman both tried this recipe a hundred times to come closer to Mexican food,” said Hubna Usman, a former banker. “It was Usman who told me, ‘Yes, this is the final product.’ Because he’s a foodie, I listened to him.”
Their children were also involved in the early days of the business.
“Initially, it was all of us setting it up, me, my kids, and my wife. We used to drive the rickshaw ourselves. We used to wait on orders ourselves,” Siddiqui said.
Now the cart is run by trained staff but Siddiqui still joins at least once a week.
“Once a week, at least, we’ll come and assemble it ourselves or cook it ourselves”
Despite the late hours and his demanding day job as DIG of the Sindh police’s Rapid Response Force, Siddiqui insists the food cart is a labor of love.
“I can stay in the kitchen for two, three hours and cook without being distracted,” he said. “I like it when people enjoy my food and appreciate it.”
Customers agree.
“It’s actually really good because the flavors are really good. Especially the hot shell. It’s amazing,” said Zarian Turab, a regular at Sombrero. “Mexican food is difficult to find in Karachi. But they’re doing justice to it.”
Another customer, real estate professional Asad Ameen, said he had never tried Mexican food before discovering the cart.
“I often come here to Seaview for food and snacks, and I discovered Sombrero. I’ve tried their tacos and they’re absolutely delicious.”
Despite calls to “localize” the menu, Siddiqui remains firm on authenticity.
“This is about 80 to 90 percent authentic,” he said. “You will never see me making chicken tikka pizza tacos for you because that’s the local taste. It doesn’t work that way.”
A new gas giant world discovered by citizen scientists using data from NASA’s exoplanet-hunting spacecraft TESS is cool, literally and figuratively.
The extrasolar planet, or “exoplanet,” designated TOI-4465 b is located around 400 light-years from Earth. It has a mass of around six times that of Jupiter, and it’s around 1.25 times as wide as the solar system’s largest planet. What is really exciting about TOI-4465 b, however, is the fact that it circles its star at a distance of around 0.4 times the distance between Earth and the sun in a flattened or “elliptical” orbit. One year for this planet takes around 102 Earth days to complete. Its distance from its star gives it an estimated temperature of between 200 and 400 degrees Fahrenheit (93 to 204 degrees Celsius).
This makes TOI-4465 b a rare case of a giant planet that is large, massive, dense, and relatively cool, existing in an underexplored region around its star in terms of what we know about planet size and mass.
Planets like TOI-4465 b are cool prospects for exoplanet scientists to study because they bridge the gap between “hot Jupiters,” scorching planets that orbit so close to their stars that their years last a matter of hours, and frigid ice giant worlds like the solar system’s own Neptune and Uranus.
Unfortunately, we don’t know of many such worlds because they are difficult to detect.
“This discovery is important because long-period exoplanets, defined as having orbital periods longer than 100 days, are difficult to detect and confirm due to limited observational opportunities and resources,” team leader and University of Mexico researcher Zahra Essack said in a statement. “As a result, they are underrepresented in our current catalog of exoplanets.
“Studying these long-period planets gives us insights into how planetary systems form and evolve under more moderate conditions.”
The rarity of such exoplanets makes TOI-4465 b a prime target for future investigation with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). But just how did the JWST’s sibling, NASA spacecraft, TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite), detect such an elusive planet to begin with?
TESS detects planets when they “transit” the face of their parent star, meaning they cross between their star and Earth. This causes a tiny dip in the light received from that star.
TOI-4465 b was spotted by TESS during a single fleeting transit event. That meant, in order to confirm this planet, the team needed to observe at least one more transit event. Something easier said than done due to some frustrating complications.
“The observational windows are extremely limited,” Essack explained. “Each transit lasts about 12 hours, but it is incredibly rare to get 12 full hours of dark, clear skies in one location. The difficulty of observing the transit is compounded by weather, telescope availability, and the need for continuous coverage.”
To combat these issues, the team turned to the Unistellar Citizen Science Network, calling upon 24 of its citizen scientists across 10 countries. These amateur astronomers used their personal telescopes to observe TOI-4465 b’s host star.
Combining this data with observations from several professional observatories resulted in the discovery of that elusive second transit, thus confirming TOI-4465 b.
“The discovery and confirmation of TOI-4465 b not only expands our knowledge of planets in the far reaches of other star systems but also shows how passionate astronomy enthusiasts can play a direct role in frontier scientific research,” Essack said.
The discovery of this planet wouldn’t have been possible without international collaborations and several initiatives, including the TESS Follow-up Observing Program Sub Group 1 (TFOP SG1), the Unistellar Citizen Science Network, and the TESS Single Transit Planet Candidate (TSTPC) Working Group.
“What makes this collaboration effective is the infrastructure behind it,” Essack added. “It is a great example of the power of citizen science, teamwork, and the importance of global collaboration in astronomy.”
The team’s research was published on Wednesday (June 25) in The Astrophysical Journal.
A low-fat vegan diet significantly decreases dietary acid load compared to a Mediterranean diet, finds the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. The randomized crossover trial also affirms that this diet — consisting of leafy greens, berries, and legumes — promotes weight loss and a healthy gut microbiome.
“Eating acid-producing foods like meat, eggs, and dairy can increase the dietary acid load, or the amount of acids consumed, causing inflammation linked to weight gain,” says lead author Hana Kahleova, MD, Ph.D., director of clinical research at the Physicians Committee.
“Replacing animal products with plant-based foods like leafy greens, berries, and legumes can help promote weight loss and create a healthy gut microbiome.”
Published in Frontiers in Nutrition, the study examined 62 overweight adults who either followed a Mediterranean or a low-fat vegan diet for 16 weeks. They first went through a four-week cleansing period, followed by an additional 16 weeks on the alternate diet.
Those eating animal products — meat, fish, eggs, and cheese — produced more acid, increasing dietary acid load. The researchers say this is tied to chronic inflammation and metabolism disruption that can lead to increased body weight.
They add that plant diets are more alkaline and linked to weight loss, improved insulin sensitivity, and lower blood pressure.
Early this year, the U.S. News and World Report scored the Mediterranean diet as the “most highly rated” out of 38 diets examined, based on nutritional completeness, health risks and benefits, long-term sustainability and evidence-based effectiveness.
Researchers used the Potential Renal Acid Load (PRAL) and Net Endogenous Acid Production (NEAP) scores to calculate dietary acid load. Higher scores show higher acid load.
PRAL and NEAP scores were seen to decrease significantly on the vegan diet, while no significant changes were seen on the Mediterranean diet.
Lower dietary acid is linked to weight loss, which was seen even after adjusting changes in energy intake, say the researchers.
The study revealed participants’ body weight decreased by 13.2 pounds on the vegan diet compared to no changes in the Mediterranean diet.
Researchers add that top alkalizing foods include vegetables, particularly leafy greens, broccoli, beets, asparagus, garlic, carrots, and cabbage.
It also includes fruits, such as berries, apples, cherries, apricots, or cantaloupe; legumes, like lentils, chickpeas, peas, beans or soy; and grains, such as quinoa or millet.
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We tried to turn up the difficulty for last week’s Friday chart quiz by drawing the charts in felt-tip, but it turns out we’re just too good at art.
Answers below. Muse follows each original work:
Eleven correct entries! Come on!
Thanks to the several contestants who also broke out the Sharpies. The wheel can’t be weighted for aesthetic merit, however, and it chose . . .
… Ed Roe, senior portfolio manager at Ptarmigan Capital in London.
To him, an FTAV FCQ winner’s T-shirt. To you, a reminder that there’s another quiz this Friday. And to us, a Turner Prize nomination, probably.
The clubs last met at first-team level in September 2019, when United won a penalty shootout in the Carabao Cup, following a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford.
The same method was used to decide an EFL Trophy clash at the Crown Oil Arena a year later, after a goalless stalemate.
Former United Academy man Aidan Barlow is part of the current Dale squad.
More details on the pre-season schedule will be confirmed in due course.
While the competition season might be long over, that doesn’t mean freestyle skiing athletes are kicking back for a seven-month holiday. For moguls and aerials skiers, the off-season is one of the most important blocks of training in the year. It’s a time to recover, reset, and most importantly, level up. And with the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics creeping closer on the calendar, the intensity and purpose behind every session is only growing stronger.
Even without winter snow, there’s no shortage of work. Summer for these athletes means long days on water ramps, trampolines, and glacier courses—paired with hours in the gym, on the bike, and yes, sometimes even in the science lab. It’s all about perfecting technique, building strength, and unlocking new tricks so that once the snow flies again, they’re not just back—they’re better.
For aerials athletes, summer kicks off the all-important water ramp season, a cornerstone of technical training. Here, skiers send their most complex tricks into pools, getting repetition and feedback without the hard landings of winter. With the Water Ramp Summer Grand Prix coming up later in the season—featuring four stops across Mettmenstetten (SUI), Park City (USA), Brisbane (AUS), and Qinhuangdao (CHN)—the stakes are already high.
Just take a look at Miha Fontaine, who recently shared a wild perspective of what it feels like to throw a double backflip into the water. It’s a view few get to see—and one that highlights the precision these athletes chase every single day.
PTI Azad Kashmir Senator Vice President and MLA Chaudhry Rafique Nayyar along with AJK Transport Minister Javed Butt announced their decision to join the PPP during a meeting with senior PPP leader Faryal Talpur at Zardari House, Karachi.
Faryal Talpur warmly welcomed Chaudhry Rafique Nayyar, Javed Butt, and their supporters into the party.
Ch Rafique and Javed Butt expressed full confidence in the leadership of President Asif Ali Zardari and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
Both leaders said Azad Kashmir is house of Quaid-e-Awam Shaheed Bhutto and Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. Azad Kashmir Minister and PPP Azad Kashmir General Secretary Faisal Mumtaz, along with Chaudhry Muhammad Riaz, were also present at the occasion.
