Echoes in the Mist

The Gita’s ethical message, rooted in a spiritual vision of the human being … insists on the need to take sides for dharma. The Pandavas are to fight and kill not for their own sake, not to recapture an usurped kingdom, but to prevent the victory of adharma. – Prof Michel Danino

Behind most master ideas of Indian civilisation we have been exploring in this series, one underlies all others or strings them together. It can be summed up in a single brief word, perhaps unrivalled in the history of human thought and ethics for the sheer number and complexity of practices it has encompassed, articulated, discussed and defended. Dharma—“that which upholds”—is a universe in itself. Indeed, it is supposed to uphold the whole cosmos, as also society, communities, families and individuals.

And yet dharma is delightfully ungraspable. Two of India’s longest texts, the epic Mahabharata and Ramayana, are nothing…

This 11 December 2017 NASA video says about itself:

In late December 2014 into early 2015, a submarine volcano in the South Pacific Kingdom of Tonga erupted, sending a violent stream of steam, ash and rock into the air.

When the ash finally settled in January 2015, a newborn island with a 400-foot summit nestled between two older islands – visible to satellites in space. The newly formed Tongan island, unofficially known as Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai after its neighbors, was initially projected to last a few months. Now it has a 6- to 30-year lease on life, according to a new NASA study.

This 5 February 2019 video says about itself:

The miracle outcrop known as Hunga Tonga has only existed for four years, yet is populated by hundreds of seabirds and flowering plants whose seeds were dropped there in bird droppings.

This 21 November 2018 video is about…

This 24 January 2019 video from the USA says about itself:

Matamoros workers continue their hugely important, powerful, and invisible-in-the-U.S. walkout

Tens of thousands of maquiladora workers in Matamoros, Mexico (just across the Rio Grande river from Brownsville, Texas) remain on strike after their employers stiffed them contractually-promised money and their union refused to enforce the signed contract.

Their labor action is completely independent of their corrupt union.

By Alex González in Mexico:

Matamoros, Mexico strike becomes “legal” as ruling class fears contagion

25 January 2019

Today, the eyes of the international working class are fixed on Matamoros, Mexico as the “cooling” off period between “maquiladora” workers and the companies officially comes to an end. The ruling class is terrified that the formalizing of the wildcat strikes could lead to their rapid expansion throughout the US-Mexico border region.

The Matamoros workers have demonstrated an immense level of courage and strength…

This 2012 video says about itself:

Fungi: Death Becomes Them – CrashCourse Biology #39

Death is what fungi are all about. By feasting on the deceased remains of almost all organisms on the planet, converting the organic matter back into soil from which new life will spring, they perform perhaps the most vital function in the global food web. Fungi, which thrive on death, make all life possible.

From Virginia Tech in the USA:

A billion years of coexistence between plants and fungi

February 6, 2019

What can a billion years of coexistence tell us about the evolution of plants and fungi?

Neither plants nor fungi existed on land prior to 800 million years ago, an astonishing phenomenon considering their current immense biodiversity, ecosystem dominance, and impact on the environment.

Virginia Tech professor emeritus Khidir Hilu, along with a team of 13 researchers with complementary expertise in…

This folk music video from the USA says about itself:

“Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)” Joan Baez – 2017 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

Class of 2017 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductee Joan Baez performs “Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos) onstage with Mary Chapin Carpenter and the Indigo Girls.

By Patrick Martin in the USA:

Immigrants subjected to nasal force-feeding at ICE detention center

1 February 2019

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement is force-feeding immigrants held in a detention center in Texas, using brutal torture against at least ten men engaged in a hunger strike against their prolonged confinement and mistreatment. The men, mainly Sikhs from the Punjab region of India, are being force-fed either through plastic nasal tubes or intravenous lines, inserted several times a day. At least 30 men are participating in the hunger strike, include some…

Rapidly receding glaciers on Baffin Island reveal long-covered Arctic landscapes

UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO AT BOULDER

This March 2016 video says about itself:

Saturn’s Moons and Rings May Be Younger Than the Dinosaurs

Some of Saturn‘s icy moons may have been formed after many dinosaurs roamed the Earth. New computer modeling of the Saturnian system suggests the rings and moons may be no more than 100 million years old.

Saturn hosts 62 known moons. All of them are influenced not only by the gravity of the planet, but also by each other’s gravities. A new computer model suggests that the Saturnian moons Tethys, Dione and Rhea haven’t seen the kinds of changes in their orbital tilts that are typical for moons that have lived in the system and interacted with other moons over long periods of time. In other words, these appear to be very young moons.

“Moons are always changing their orbits. That’s inevitable,” Matija Cuk, principal investigator at the SETI Institute and…

This 2018 video is about butterflies of Vlieland island in the Netherlands. There are no pesticides on Vlieland, which is good for butterflies. Among Vlieland species are, eg, Niobe fritillary, dark green fritillary and Queen of Spain fritillary.

One of the most ancient of Hindu festivals, Makar Sankranti is celebrated in different parts of the country in different ways with great fanfare. Sankranti denotes the entry of the sun into the zodiac sign of Makara (Capricorn) as it travels on its celestial path. This transition welcomes longer and warmer days. The festival is associated with colorful decorations, spring harvest fairs, ritual bathing, kite flying, bonfires and elaborate feasts. – FP Staff

Significance

While most Hindu festivals are celebrated as per the lunar cycle, Makar Sankranti follows the solar cycle. Dedicated to Lord Surya, the day marks the onset of summer and beginning of auspicious period uttarayan. The connection with uttarayan dates back to the Mahabharata when Bhishma Pitamah lay down on a bed of arrows and waited for the sun to be in uttarayan to breath his last.

Harvest festival

For most parts of India, this period…