Jahabar Sadiq

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri. Eid Mubarak. Maaf Zahir & Batin. Minal Aidin Walfaizin. #eid #harirayaaidilfitri

In 1895, a French social psychologist named Gustave Le Bon published a book so dangerous that it became the private playbook of dictators for the next century. Hitler quoted it. Mussolini kept it by his bedside. Edward Bernays used it to build modern propaganda. The book's name? "The Crowd." Its core claim: The moment people form a group, they become stupid. Not slightly dumber. Fundamentally, structurally incapable of rational thought. And the tactics he described for controlling them still work on you right now. 🧵 (thread)

In 1507-15, the Portuguese crown built the fort of Our Lady of the Conception in Hormuz, to control trade from India and charge hefty tolls to passing ships. From the outset, holding the fort and controlling the Strait of Hormuz required constant fighting with local emirs; by 1662 the Shah of Persia (backed by British forces) took it for good. After a detailed account of the back-and-forth in a fierce and bloody seven‑month naval battle in 1521–22 in the Strait of Hormuz, Commander Saturnino Monteiro, in the first volume of his treatise "Batalhas e Combates da Marinha Portuguesa,” concluded: "...and thus ended this stupid and useless war of Hormuz, with everything remaining as it had been before."

A black fungus feeds on radiation in Chernobyl. In the radioactive ruins of Chernobyl’s Reactor 4, scientists found an extraordinary black fungus, Cladosporium sphaerospermum, thriving in one of Earth’s most toxic environments. Rather than merely enduring radiation, this fungus seems to harness it through radiosynthesis—a process akin to photosynthesis but driven by gamma radiation, converting it into chemical energy. It’s among the rare organisms capable of this feat. Even more remarkable, when tested on the International Space Station, the fungus flourished, forming a biofilm that blocked up to 84% of cosmic radiation, hinting at its potential as a living radiation shield for astronauts. With radiation posing a major hurdle for deep-space missions to Mars and beyond, this self-regenerating biological layer could revolutionize spacecraft design by replacing heavy, bulky shielding. On Earth, researchers are exploring its use in bioremediation to detoxify radioactive sites too hazardous for humans, potentially transforming nuclear disaster recovery. As one scientist put it, “It’s like nature crafted a biological radiation shield.” From Chernobyl’s ruins to space, this humble fungus could help humanity thrive in the universe’s harshest environments.

Why would the Malaysian PM need to speak to an oppressor of Muslims on a war against a Muslim country? And why does the Malaysian PM need to publicise his conversation with an oppressor of Muslims on a war against a Muslim country?

In Tehran, residents are making traditional New Year’s meal (herb rice and fish) to hand out to rescue workers.

🚨🇫🇷 NEW: The location of the French aircraft carrier, FS Charles de Gaulle, has been given away by a sailor using Strava whilst jogging on the ship deck [@lemondefr]

Voyager hit a 90,000°F wall at the solar system’s edge. NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft crossed one of the most dramatic frontiers in the cosmos: the heliopause, the tenuous boundary where the Sun’s influence finally gives way to interstellar space. What the probe discovered there was astonishing—a turbulent zone of superheated plasma with temperatures soaring between 30,000 and 90,000 °F (roughly 17,000–50,000 °C). This wasn’t a physical wall or barrier, but a dynamic transition region where the outward-flowing solar wind abruptly slows, compresses, and piles up against the incoming pressure of interstellar material. That compression converts kinetic energy into thermal energy, driving the plasma to extreme heat levels far beyond anything found inside the heliosphere. Remarkably, despite the blistering temperatures, this “wall of fire” would pose no danger to a hypothetical astronaut. The plasma is extraordinarily diffuse—far less dense than the best vacuums achievable in Earth laboratories—so there are simply too few particles to transfer meaningful heat. The region is hot in temperature but cold in practical effect. Voyager’s instruments captured clear signatures of the crossing: a sudden plunge in solar wind particles, a sharp rise in galactic cosmic rays, and faint plasma oscillations that revealed the density and temperature of this exotic boundary layer for the first time. These vibrations—analogous to ripples on an unseen sea—provided direct measurements of conditions in a realm previously known only through theory. The heliopause itself serves as a vital shield. The entire heliosphere—the vast bubble carved by the Sun—deflects most of the galaxy’s high-energy cosmic radiation, helping protect life on Earth from constant bombardment. Beyond this protective envelope lies the harsher, unfiltered radiation environment of the interstellar medium. Today, more than 15 billion miles (24 billion kilometers) from home, Voyager 1 remains the farthest human-made object ever sent into space. Still operational and transmitting precious data, it continues to reveal the secrets of this distant frontier. At the outer limit of our solar system, space is neither empty nor serene. It is a violent, glowing threshold—and humanity has only begun to map its mysteries.

Block the straight of Hormuz for a week and the world goes mad but block the Rafah crossing for years, preventing the entry of food and humanitarian aid into Gaza and nobody bats an eye. It’s not hard to see that this world values markets, profit and capitalism over human lives.

I can't get over the fact that Dune is about an oppressed people fighting for their homeland, waging a jihad to bring down a hegemonic empire by threatening to cut off the flow of their most precious commodity after the empire had assassinated their religious leader's father.

🪐 Saturn Seen by Two Space Telescopes: Hubble and James Webb A rare side by side look at Saturn captured by two of the most advanced space observatories ever built, each revealing the planet in a completely different way. 🔭 Hubble Space Telescope — October 22, 2023 From a distance of about 1.365 billion kilometers, Hubble captured delicate patterns across Saturn’s rings known as ring spokes. These enormous features can stretch thousands of kilometers, sometimes reaching the size of Earth. They appear and disappear with Saturn’s seasons, and scientists believe they form when dust particles in the rings interact with Saturn’s magnetic field and incoming sunlight. 🌌 James Webb Space Telescope — June 25, 2023 Using near infrared light, Webb shows a very different Saturn. Methane in the planet’s atmosphere absorbs most of the sunlight, making the planet itself appear unusually dark, while the icy rings reflect light and glow brilliantly. This powerful view also helps scientists search for faint moons and study the complex environment surrounding the gas giant with remarkable sensitivity. Two telescopes. Two wavelengths of light. One extraordinary planet revealing new secrets. 📸 Credits: Hubble: NASA, ESA, STScI, A. Simon (NASA GSFC) Webb: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, J. DePasquale (STScI)

Damaged by strikes last week.

Breaking: Germany withdrew its intervention towards the genocidal state of Israel. Marking it now 0 states in support of Israel and 17 states intervening on the side of South Africa, Palestine and Humanity 🔥

Israel just bombed the largest natural gas field in the world. The environmental fallout from this war will be felt for generations.

Shocking error from Michael Clarke on @skynews just now. Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon wasn't to take out Hezbollah as he claimed. It was to remove Lebanon's government. Hezbollah didn't exist at that time. It emerged in response to that invasion.

As we focus on Iran and Lebanon, let's not forget what’s happening in the West Bank. In one year, more than 36,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced and 240 were killed. There were over 1,700 attacks by Israeli settlers. We must end U.S. military aid to Netanyahu.

The US is the world's biggest exporter of weapons of war with 42% of all arms transfers originating in the US - meanwhile Cuba is the biggest exporter of doctors and healthcare workers in the world, with nearly 30,000 doctors helping to save lives in over 50 countries. Basically, the country that exports death wants to destroy the country that exports life. This tracks.