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yamayuandadu · 2 months ago

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So what is the deal with Feminine Tishtrya in Sogdia? Lilla Russell-Smith in her paper on the "Sogdian Daena" painting says that Tishtrya is depicted as feminine in Sogdian art up until Islamization, but I'm having a hard time finding those examples. I know of some Sogdian influenced Chinese astrological icons that depict a Tish-influenced Mercury as feminine, but none from Sogdia itself

Great question, as usual. I’ve been obsessed with the supposed attestations of feminine Tishtrya for a bit over a year by now, so thanks for giving me an opportunity to talk more about this topic. I feel obliged to let you know right away there’s no major conclusion to draw, though.

To begin with, ultimately there is only a single indisputable depiction of more or less feminine Tish(trya)/Tir(iya), and it’s Kushan rather than Sogdian. On a coin of Huvishka only known from a single exemplar, a feminine figure armed with a bow is labeled as Teiro (TEIPO):

The feminine Teiro on a coin, British Museum (note the catalog erroneously identifies the deity as Nana despite the inscription clearly reading TEIPO…); reproduced here for educational purposes only

More under the cut.

Michael Shenkar (Intangible Spirits and Graven Images, p. 149) notes that this version of Tir/Tishtrya (I’ll try to stick to gender neutral terms through the response if you don’t mind) has been variously compared with the iconography of Artemis, Apollo and Nana(ya), and that the last of these three deities offers the closest parallel overall. However, he suggests this unusual image might simply reflect the association with Apollo attested further west, and that the deity is meant to be a youthful man, not a woman (p. 151).

Matteo Compareti (Literary and Iconographical Evidence for the Identification of the Zoroastrian Rain God Tishtrya in Sogdian Art, p. 117) doesn’t mention Apollo as an option, though, and concludes the iconography was evidently borrowed from Artemis. Harry Falk goes even further and suggests the Teiro coin was in fact recut from a Nanaya one of the Artemis-like variety (Kushan rule granted by Nana: the background of a heavenly legitimation, p. 290). The example he uses as evidence is indeed remarkably similar, and similarly was minted during the reign of Huvishka:

Nana on a coin of Huvishka, British Museum; reproduced here for educational purposes only.

Of course, this raises a question of how the relationship between Nana and Teiro was imagined. Based on the attested equivalence between their western counterpart and Nabu it is generally accepted they formed a couple, but this doesn’t really explain why they would be depicted so similarly, especially given that character-wise Nanaya has very little in common with them. As far as I am aware no serious attempts have been made to explain this, though I’ll return to this matter for a bit later on.

While I don’t necessarily think Shenkar is wrong to be skeptical about the gender of Teiro, I will note a difference in gender between western and eastern versions of an Iranian deity would not be unparalleled - Vanant is male in the Avesta, and I’m pretty sure the same holds true for Middle Persian sources, but on Kanishka’s coins the cognate name “Oanindo” (OANINΔO) pretty clearly designates a goddess visually patterned after winged Nike (Intangible spirits, p. 151-152). Drvaspa’s eastern counterpart Lrooaspo (ΛPOOACPO), on the other hand, is male in contrast with the female Avestan version (p. 96-97). Shenkar himself admits that “it is easy to envisage the same divinities being perceived not only as having different functions, but also being of different sex” (p. 97).

That’s essentially it for the Kushan evidence.

As for Sogdia - there’s quite a large repertoire of deities in Sogdian art who appear fairly consistently, but are not provided with any textual identifications, in contrast with Kushan art where everyone is neatly labeled.It’s probably safe to assume that some depictions of Tish are available to us already, and simply have yet to be identified with certainty. An argument in favor of this would be Tish’s popularity reflected in theophoric names - if Nanaya, Weshparkar or Sraosha can serve as parallels for comparative purposes, it does seem popular devotion translated into being commonly depicted in art as well.

For specific candidates, I’ll go back to Literary and Iconographical Evidence (...), since it's the most recent I have. The core criteria for identifying depictions of Tish in Sogdian art Compareti uses is fairly sound. Based on the commonly accepted assumption that they were closely associated with Nana(ya), armored figures holding objects which might be arrows (an attribute of Tish as a divine archer) appearing alongside her in paintings, ossuaries etc. are identified as Tish (p. 111-115). While the state of preservation and quality of reproductions in literature often leave a lot to be desired, I do think it’s fair to speak of the companion of Nana as a distinct entity iconographically, and I’m not aware of any identification with an equal number of supporters as Tish. Therefore, it seems safe to say these examples listed by Compareti are indeed them:

I’m less sure about the proposed identification of a golden clasp from Tillia Tepe with a pair of hugging(?) deities as a forerunner and early example of pairing Nana and Tish, since neither deity here really has any distinct attributes, and as Comparati himself notes it is generally assumed that it’s a depiction of Dionysus and Ariadne (presumably on a very stylized big cat, if so):

I’m also not sure if I agree with the proposed identification between Tish and Vreshman (the Sogdian form of Vaiśravaṇa), though (p. 109). Frantz Grenet (Vaiśravaṇa in Sogdia. About the origin of Bishamon-ten. p. 283-285) prefers to identify him with Yima/Yamšo since the latter was depicted in lamellar armor, well attested as a feature of depictions of Vaiśravaṇa. in Kushan art. Shenkar (The So-Called “Fravašis” and the “Heaven and Hell” Paintings, and the Cult of Nana in Panjikent, p. 12) argues Vreshman was incorporated into Sogdian religion as himself, without identification with any other deity. The last option seems to be the most plausible one to me, since in the Sogdian translation of the Vessantara Jataka, cited by both Compareti and Grenet, Vreshman and Narayana (Vishnu) appear under their original names even though Brahma is replaced by Azruwa (Zurvan), Indra by Adhvagh (“high god”, most likely a title of Ahura Mazda), and Mahadeva/Maheshvara (Shiva) by Weshparkar.

Anyway, back to Compareti’s paper: after establishing what he assumes to be Tish’s iconography in Sogdian art, he moves to the matter of feminine Tish (p. 117-119; “Tish in a feminine attire”, “iconographies of Tish including feminine traits”).

Things get even more shaky, tragically - he argues that Tish was associated with dragons and/or vaguely dragon-like hybrid animals and that this sort of animal symbol might have been borrowed from Nabu (p. 111; this doesn’t seem implausible at all, and matches some of the works of art discussed through the article)… and makes a jump from that to suggesting that the unique goddess on a makara from Panjikent, shown below, is in fact feminine Tish (p. 118-119):

I was overjoyed at first when I read this paper because I love that painting and, as I admitted, I’m deeply invested in the search for evidence for feminine Tish. However, after a few weeks of thinking about it I must confess it feels a bit too good to be true, so some skepticism is necessary.

Compareti’s logic isn’t all that convoluted, to be fair. Essentially - if a feminine form of Tish existed (very probable based on the Kushan coin), and if Tish was associated with Nabu (consensus position), and if Nabu’s symbol possibly transferred to Tish was the mušḫuššu (once again, probable), and if the mušḫuššu was sometimes described as aquatic (p. 112; this is surprisingly true, see the RlA entry by Frans Wiggermann here, p. 456 for attestations; of note is that many of them are late) then the unique goddess on a makara might be a feminine version of Tish on what was originally a mušḫuššu-influenced dragon reinterpreted as a makara.

However, it’s hard to argue the typical elephant-headed makara in the painting resembles the mušḫuššu, which I feel poses a potential problem. It also needs to be pointed out that Shenkar mentions attempts at identifying the unique goddess as a local river deity (ex. a personification of nearby Zeravshan) with iconography patterned after Ganga (Intangible spirits, p. 170) which is less thrilling than feminine Tish but does seem fairly plausible and would offer a pretty straightforward explanation for the makara. However, Compareti proposes identifying one more Sogdian painting as feminine Tish:

I would say in this case his arguments seem stronger - the alleged feminine Tish sits on a throne supported by dragon-like hybrids which bear no particular resemblance to the distinctly accurate makara on the other painting, and while it’s hard to tell for sure given the state of preservation one of the objects held in their hands might very well be an arrow like he argues. Identification as a Sogdian form of Anahita has also been proposed, though I am not convinced by at least some of the arguments - even though it is possible to see the creatures supporting the throne as winged dogs, they sure don’t seem like beavers (even taking into account the default Middle Persian term for this animal, sag ī ābīg, means “water dog”); furthermore, there is very little evidence for worship of Anahita in Sogdia (Intangible spirits, p. 78).

Since Lilla Russel-Smith in The ‘Sogdian Deities’ Twenty Years on: A Reconsideration of a Small Painting from Dunhuang cites Compareti on p. 192 (not the same article, though) - which I assume is what you meant in your ask - presumably the images from above are meant. Ultimately not much here pertains to the matter of Tish otherwise, though I wish the topic of possible influence of the image of Sothis was explored more. Fwiw, the author states that “sex-change in deities is important for future research” specifically with regards to one of the goddesses in the painting scroll being Tish (p. 161, footnote 26) so… maybe one day.

For what it’s worth, Compareti also accepts the possibility that the deity from the Dunhuang painting discussed by Russel-Smith is Tish depicted as feminine because of the proposed influence of the image of Sothis (The So-Called “Pelliot Chinois 4518.24”. Illustrated Document from Dunhuang and Sino-Sogdian Iconographical Contacts, p. 15) Furthermore, he postulates the possibility of attribute swapping between them and Nanaya - and speculates it might be the original reason behind the emergence of feminine Tishtrya (p. 34). He also points out that a dual association with both both Sirius (perceived positively in Zoroastrian context) and Mercury (perceived negatively, as was the case with planets) could result in an ambiguous image extending also to an ambiguous gender; and, additionally, that in Mesopotamian astronomy Mercury, like Venus, could be described as both feminine and masculine (this was a way to reflect the fact they were visible both in the morning and the evening, see Erica Reiner’s Astral Magic in Babylonia, p. 6; however, I am not aware of any Mesopotamian deity who would embody this the way Ninsianna arguably embodied the ambiguous gender assigned to Venus; Nabu has nothing of that sort to offer, that’s for sure).

However, I am not sure if Compareti is outright voicing support for the existence of feminine Tish in his paper, since within a single section he flip flops between describing Tish as “depicted as a woman” (p. 18) and arguing that a feminine appearance is not necessarily an indication of gender (p. 17). He also incorrectly states that the Teiro coin from the very beginning is the only example of a Kushan depiction of a feminine form of an otherwise masculine figure (p. 19); as I already mentioned earlier, this is also attested for Vanant. The article is generally very meandering and there’s a fair share of deeply puzzling statements, to be fair (“Atargatis who was sometimes confused with Nana and Ereshkigal” on p. 32 made my eyes roll, as did “Ishtar/Aphrodite/Venus” on p. 34 in context very clearly indicating he’s talking about Mesopotamian astronomy; and I’m not sure if I want to look into a cited paper which tries to link Baal Shamin and Vaisravana).

Last but not least, let’s look into the Chinese personification of Mercury.

A Chinese depiction of Mercury as a female scribe, British Museum; reproduced here for educational purposes only.

Yu Xin in Personal Fate and the Planets: A Documentary and Iconographical Study of Astrological Divination at Dunhuang, Focusing on the "Dhāraṇī Talisman for Offerings to Ketu and Mercury, Planetary Deity of the North" mentions that in the Tang period Chinese authors were evidently aware that the Sogdian (胡) name for Mercury was Tir, and the transcription Di (滴; literally “drop”) shows up as an alternative for more common Chenxing/Shuixing in astrological texts (p. 177). He also states that personifications of astral bodies only started appearing in China in the sixth century, probably under Buddhist influence (p. 184-185), and accordingly attributes foreign origin to the iconography of Mercury (p. 186).

However, he sees Chenxing’s character (“fond of quarreling with others”, association with scribal arts, a divine messenger role) as a reflection of a hodgepodge of traits borrowed from Hermes/Mercury, Tir/Tish (only the former name is used in the article) and by extension indirectly Nabu (again p. 186). This doesn’t seem implausible, seeing as we’d be dealing not with direct transfer of a deity but with the formation of a new one from info from various astronomical and astrological treatises imported from the west and India.

Example of a Chinese depiction of Mercury from the Tang period Wuxing ji nianbaxiu shenxing tu (五星及廿八宿神形圖); Osaka Municipial Museum of art, via Yu Xin’s article.

The article doesn’t address Chenxing’s gender beyond a footnote rejecting the proposal the personified Mercury reflected the image of an archetypal palace woman (yet again p. 186, footnote 86) and a brief comment that the gender of the personification likely changed at some point (p. 188).

Since western images of Mercury - whether ancient or later (ex. in Qazwini's Aja'ib al-Makhluqat) - are generally masculine, the elusive feminine Tish definitely seems like a natural missing piece of the Chinese Mercury puzzle but I can’t tell how plausible such an influence would be, especially given the scarcity of examples of feminine Tish/Tir actually available. For what it’s worth: Compareti does argue in favor of this (The so-called (...) , p. 35-36).

To sum up: unless I missed something huge, it doesn’t seem like there is a single paper which would answer the initial question comprehensively. We still need a rigorous “What’s up with Tish’s gender, anyway?” study. I think the Kushan coin is virtually impossible to dismiss, so it’s a matter of establishing how common feminine Tish was and in what context they arose and spread - this might be wishful thinking on my part, though. Also note that since ultimately most of what I read and write pertains to Mesopotamia, I might be by default predisposed to accept the hypotheses which remind me of the common Mesopotamian phenomenon of deity gender change via association with a different deity or n-dimensional astronomical connections.

#iranian miscellanea #mesopotamian miscellanea #chinese miscellanea #hinadoll39

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shape · 23 days ago

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Kann es sein, dass Politik gerade den Platz der Kunst einnimmt?

Sicherlich – und das nicht im positiven Sinne. Nach dem 7. Oktober tauchten viele Bilder auf, die eliminatorischen Antisemitismus verherrlichten. Statt dass man sich von ihnen abwandte, wurden sie im künstlerischen Kontext teilweise sogar positiv aufgegriffen. Künstler*innen begannen, Bilder von vor Hamas-Kämpfern auf Paraglidern Flüchtenden, von Bulldozern, die den Grenzzaun zu Israel durchbrechen, oder von fliehenden »Nova«-Festivalbesucher*innen zu Bildern des Widerstands umzudeuten. Einige stellen sich bewusst in den Dienst der Propaganda der Hamas. Ich begreife das, was an den Hochschulen passiert, nicht als Politik im demokratischen Sinn, sondern als Rekrutierung für eine faschistische Bewegung. Es geht um den Rausch der Entgrenzung und Gruppenbildung. Aus der Masse initiiert scheint das Individuum erlöst von der Verantwortung für antidemokratische, gewaltsame Parolen, die die Tötung von Jüdinnen rechtfertigen. Das ist eine Absage an Intellektualität und Demokratie. Gleichzeitig findet auch keine Kunst statt, denn Kunst ist frei und individuell. Dafür soll die Jüdische Kunstschule Platz schaffen.

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Der Name »Jüdische Kunstschule« ist sehr plastisch. Ich stelle mir sofort ein Gebäude vor, mit einem Eingangsportal, dahinter junge Künstler*innen in ihren Werkstätten. So wird es zunächst wahrscheinlich nicht aussehen …

Der Name ist zunächst Ausdruck des Traums eines anderen, freieren, sichereren Rahmens der künstlerischen Ausbildung. Die Jüdische Kunstschule Berlin mit einem eigenen Gebäude wäre natürlich fantastisch. Als feste Institution könnte man Impulse setzen. Zum Beispiel würde man ganz gezielt israelische Künstler*innen einladen, die derzeit überall boykottiert werden. Die Jüdische Kunstschule startet im Herbst zunächst als Projekt für ein Semester, in Zusammenarbeit mit der UdK, in wechselnden Räumen und Onlinesitzungen, finanziert von der Berliner Kulturverwaltung. Wir haben für diese erste Phase Lehrende angestellt, außerdem Räume und Ateliers angemietet. Wir haben Klassen für unterschiedliche Disziplinen wie Malerei, Bildhauerei, Performance, Theater und Literatur. Wie es nach dem ersten Semester weitergehen kann, werden wir sehen.

Eine vollwertige Ausbildung können Sie zurzeit nicht anbieten?

Nein, aber vielleicht kommen wir noch dahin. Neben der Ausbildung ist uns die Vernetzung wichtig. Deswegen lassen wir zunächst auch Künstler*innen zu, die parallel an einer anderen Hochschule studieren oder den Abschluss vor Kurzem gemacht haben. In der Kunst hat Vernetzung einen sehr hohen Stellenwert. Wir beobachten, dass jüdische und israelische Künstler*innen stark marginalisiert und boykottiert werden und so aus vielen Zusammenhängen rausfliegen. Wenn man diese Netzwerke verliert, kommt man nicht weit. Dem möchten wir etwas entgegensetzen. Wir hoffen, dass sich zwischen den Studierenden über das gemeinsame Lernen hinaus Freundschaften und Arbeitsbeziehungen bilden.

Woher kommen die Professor*innen?

Wir haben acht Masterclasses mit sechs Professor*innen aus Israel und zwei aus Deutschland. Die meisten der israelischen Professor*innen kommen von der Bezalel Academy in Jerusalem, einer der renommiertesten Hochschulen für Kunst im Design im Nahen Osten, deren Geschichte bis in die 1930er Jahre zurückreicht, als zahlreiche Künstler*innen aus Deutschland vor den Nazis in die Region geflohen sind.

Wen haben Sie für das Projekt gewinnen können?

Da wäre zum Beispiel David Adika, der an der Bezalel das Department für Fotografie leitet. Seine Masterclass widmet sich dem Themenkomplex Fotografie, Identität und Menschenrechte. Ebenfalls thematisch wird die Klasse der Bildhauerin Hillal Toony Navok arbeiten. Sie unterrichtet an der Bezalel, aber auch am Shenkar College, in der Nähe von Tel Aviv. Es wird um Verletzlichkeit, Zuflucht und Schutz gehen. Die Studierenden werden performativ, installativ und plastisch im öffentlichen Raum experimentieren. Man merkt, dass diese Klassen sich Themen widmen, die gerade in der jüdischen Gegenwart virulent sind. Das Thema der Schutzräume wird hier aber nicht auf die konkreten jüdischen Erfahrungen etwa auf dem Campus begrenzt, sondern sehr viel offener verhandelt werden.

Wie lief die Bewerbung?

Das Zeitfenster war wegen der Förderzusagen sehr schmal, das machte es für die Bewerber*innen sehr schwierig. Teil der Bewerbung waren sowohl ein Motivationsschreiben als auch ein Portfolio. Uns haben sowohl die künstlerische Leistung als auch die politische Motivation interessiert. Wir wollten auf Notsituationen reagieren, in denen sich Studierende in ihren Lehrzusammenhängen befinden. Die Anzahl der Bewerber*innen war sehr hoch und wir mussten die Auswahl lange diskutieren. Wir hoffen sehr, das Vorhaben im nächsten Jahr fortsetzen zu können. Die meisten Bewerbungen kamen aus Deutschland, allerdings kamen auch viele aus Israel und den USA, außerdem aus ganz anderen Ländern, wie etwa der Ukraine oder der Türkei.

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fugengulsen · 2 years ago

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In 1979, Frank Zappa took a shine to an Eastern Indian rock/jazz violinist, L. Shankar. So much so that he produced an album with him, "Touch Me There." Not only does Frank produce, but he also co-writes half of the album and performs on one cut, "Dead Girls of London." So, not surprisingly, this disc sounds like much of the material Zappa was releasing around that time, even though it is technically a "Shankar" album. After obtaining a Bachelor's degree in Physics in India, Shankar moved to America in 1969 and earned a doctorate in ethnomusicology at Wesleyan University. Here he met jazz musicians Ornette Coleman, Jimmy Garrison, and John McLaughlin while working as a teaching assistant and concert master of the University Chamber Orchestra. In 1975 Shankar and McLaughlin founded Shakti, a pioneering, groundbreaking and highly influential east-meets-west collaboration, with a fluid sound that managed to successfully combine seemingly incompatible traditions. His first solo album, Touch Me There, was produced by Frank Zappa in 1979.[3] Shankar founded his own band - The Epidemics, in 1982, with the composer Caroline. He released three albums with the band. During the 1980s, Shankar recorded periodically as a leader, doing both jazz-based material and Indian classical music. His 1980 release of the album Who's To Know on ECM introduced the unique sound of his own invention, the ten-string, stereophonic double violin. This instrument, designed by Shankar and built by noted guitar maker Ken Parker, covers the entire orchestral range, including double bass, cello, viola and violin. He has recently developed a newer version of his instrument which is much lighter than the original.[3] 1990 saw Shankar co-producing a one hour film directed by H. O. Nazareth, which went on to be nominated for Best Documentary film at the Cannes film festival. Shankar worked on the score of the film The Last Temptation of Christ (1988),composed by Peter Gabriel, with his music ending up on both albums of the score - Passion: Music for The Last Temptation of Christ and Passion - Sources. He won a Grammy for his work on the latter in 1994. 1996 saw a Grammy nomination for the album Raga Aberi.[1] Shankar has performed on several of Peter Gabriel's records such as So and Us. Since 1996, Shankar has toured internationally with fellow-violinist (and his niece) Gingger as "Shankar & Gingger", garnering critical acclaim and popularity.[4] The two performed at events including the Concert for Global Harmony and Nelson Mandela's 80th birthday celebrations. Shankar & Gingger released their first DVD One in a Million in 2001. After a critically successful tour of North America, the DVD went to number 1 on the Neilsen Soundscan DVD charts and stayed there for four weeks.[3] In 2004, Shankar composed additional music with Gingger Shankar for John Debney and performed on the score for the film The Passion of the Christ (2004). Shankar has played with some of the greatest musical contemporaries of his time, including Lou Reed, Echo & the Bunnymen, Talking Heads, Frank Zappa, Peter Gabriel, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Charly García, Jonathan Davis, Bruce Springsteen, Van Morrison, Stewart Copeland, Yoko Ono, A. R. Rahman, John Waite, Steve Vai, Ginger Baker, Toto, Nils Lofgren, Mark O'Connor, and Sting.[3] Shankar has been praised for his ability to mix Eastern and Western influences, assimilating Carnatic music with pop, rock, jazz and contemporary world music.[5] He admits "Ultimately, I would like to bring the East and West together. That, I think, is my role," he says. More recently, Shankar has used a new stage name, Shenkar, and has created recordings under this name. In 2006 2007, Shenkar provided the vocals for the opening credit music and other themes for all episodes of the hit TV series Heroes. He has been lately working in Jonathan Davis', Stephen Day and Ana Maria Lombo's next records.

#youtube

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eretzyisrael · 2 years ago

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The goal is not merely to introduce Bedouin art to Israelis, but to proclaim loud and clear that it represents an integral part of Israeli art'

The first major exhibition of Bedouin art will open on Wednesday at the Raha center for the plastic arts in Rahat, the country's largest Bedouin city in the Negev desert. Among the artists whose work goes on display are founders of the Raha center—launched in July—including Hala Abo Freh, Nasraa Azbarga, Ola Alkrenawi, Camilar Isabela and Fatma Abo Freh.

The Raha center was created on the initiative of the city's community center under the direction of Fouad Ilizidna. Alter, who had already set up a similar center in the Eshkol Regional Council in southern Israel, was contacted to coordinate the establishment of the the institution in Rahat. The center offers a wide range of artistic activities for children of all ages and adults, including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography or video art.

“The goal is not merely to introduce Bedouin art to Israelis, but to proclaim loud and clear that it represents an integral part of Israeli art,” Alter added.

Artists from the Raha center are currently at work on a large-scale mural in partnership with Shenkar College. The project will be unveiled in late March.

#Israel #Rahat #Art #Bedouins #Israeli Art

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radgritty · 1 year ago

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There's actually a (clearly joke-written) bookcabout the philly phanatic and gritty exoloring each other's bodies. It's called "city of brotherly love a philly phan phiction". I know about it thru college humor / dropout's erotic book club, i swear i'm normal

(This is actually a rec to listen to it on youtube / watch it on dropout, it's led by the wonderful rekha shenkar and jess ross, both such funny comedians who talk about erotic books so candidly and without shame and i honest to goodness learnt a lot from this show and also. Funny and pretty women i'm so down. It is very much libfem but what csn ya do, yk) (both are philly natives and proud of it btw)

Hi, I love you. This, this is the stuff of dreams.

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sciencespies · 2 years ago

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Plastic additives contaminate the sea and selectively harm corals' reproduction processes, research finds

https://sciencespies.com/nature/plastic-additives-contaminate-the-sea-and-selectively-harm-corals-reproduction-processes-research-finds/

Plastic additives contaminate the sea and selectively harm corals' reproduction processes, research finds

A new study by Tel Aviv University and the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences in Eilat examined the effect of plastic additives on the reproductive process and larvae development of corals and other organisms commonly found in the coral reef of Eilat. Plastic additives are chemicals that are added to plastic products during manufacturing, and many of them are known to be endocrine disrupting compounds. The current study shows that these chemicals can have species-specific effects that may damage the population structure and biodiversity of coral reefs.

The study was led by Ph.D. student Gal Vered of the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences in Eilat and Tel Aviv University, and Prof. Noa Shenkar of Tel Aviv University’s School of Zoology in the Wise Faculty of Life Sciences and the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History. The study was published in the journal Environmental Pollution.

The researchers focused on four organisms: a stony coral, a soft coral, a fire coral and a solitary ascidian. These organisms play an important role in the ecology of tropical coral reefs, and damage to their reproduction and development may affect the structure of the reef community.

In addition, the researchers examined four chemical additives that are widely used in plastic products and which have been found in seawater in tropical areas inhabited by coral reefs. Two of these were phthalate chemicals, which are used to soften and increase the flexibility of different types of plastic and can be found in a wide variety of consumer products such as food packaging, toys, medical devices, and adhesives. The others were 4-nonylphenol a stabilizer used in plastic packaging and as an additive in cleaning agents, and bisphenol A found in polycarbonate plastic that is used for food and beverage packaging, baby bottles, boxes, and more. The European Chemicals Agency has classified bisphenol A as a substance that may cause damage to human fertility, based on evidence found in laboratory animals.

Gal Vered explains: “Plastic additives are chemical additives that are incorporated into plastic products during the manufacturing process. These substances reach marine environments through plastic waste and wastewater. Some of them are known to activate or suppress hormonal processes, and can therefore disrupt biological systems. However, their effects on organisms in coral reefs have hardly been studied. The structure of the coral reef population depends on the success of the reproduction, development and settlement of corals and other reef organisms. Interference with their hormonal systems may affect the chances of success of these processes, and an uneven effect on the different species may lead to a change in the community’s structure and damage to the entire system.”

The researchers conducted a series of exposure experiments in which the effects of the plastic additives were tested at environmentally-relevant concentrations in seawater, and at higher laboratory concentrations. The parameters measured were fertilization, larvae development, larvae survival, and larvae settlement and metamorphoses.

The environmentally-relevant concentration of 4-nonylphenol was found to inhibit larvae settlement in the soft coral, while a high concentration of the same compound damaged the fertilization, development and settlement of all the studied organisms. The higher laboratory concentration of one of the studied phthalate chemicals damaged the settlement only of the stony coral larvae, and not of the other organisms’ reproductive products. These findings add to the accumulating evidence that plastic pollution has a selective effect on different species.

Prof. Shenkar: “Our findings demonstrate plastic additives’ negative and selective effects on the development and reproduction of coral reef organisms. The environmentally-relevant concentrations used in our experiments were concentrations found in seawater; alarmingly, some had deleterious effects on organisms’ reproduction. Nevertheless, concentration within organisms’ tissues may reach higher levels as these compounds can potentially bioaccumulate. To better understand the impact of plastic additives on this endangered ecosystem, we suggest developing better methods for measuring the actual concentrations within the tissues of the organisms to produce relevant risk assessments.”

Gal Vered: “Climate change, ocean acidification, and ongoing anthropogenic stressors place coral reefs at existential risk. Most of the coral reefs in the world are found in developing countries where the human population is expanding rapidly and waste management is lacking. Steps towards preventing plastic waste from reaching the environment include proper local waste management that reduces transportation of waste, and sustainable consumption of products regulated for additives.”

The researchers conclude: “We emphasize the importance of proper waste management that will reduce the presence of plastic waste from reaching the marine environment, as well as the need for methods to measure the concentration of chemicals inside the bodies of organisms, in order to assess the possible risk to their reproductive and developmental processes.”

Story Source:

Materials provided by Tel-Aviv University. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

#Nature

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fresne999 · 5 months ago

Note

Per my policy to -repetitiously- repost with ways to take action when I see a post like this:

-Introverted/can write legibly? Postcarding and letter writing are a good no contact way to get out the vote. https://postcardstovoters.org (postcards - more writing) or https://votefwd.org/ (letters - less writing, but you need a printer). If you’re looking for a specific campaign, you can also check out, https://linktr.ee/grassrootsdemhq

-no $ or printer, go to mobilize and look up letter writing / postcard parties in your area. Someone else will provide supplies/ postage, you provide writting. https://www.mobilize.us/

-Extroverted (or at least enough to talk to strangers): Look up your local Sister District https://sisterdistrict.com/volunteer-activities/ or Swing Left (https://swingleft.org/) and see what phone banking or canvassing opportunities they’ve got going. I also sometimes volunteer through Grassroots Democrats (https://linktr.ee/grassrootsdemhq) when the above don’t have events that fit my schedule.

I also really recommend listening to anything with Anat Shenkar-Osario explaining how to persuade. Especially her podcast https://wordstowinby-pod.com/

-Not up to phone banking? Both of the organizations above (or really any get out the vote organization) need volunteers to a) help organize phone banks and canvasses, b) call volunteers to remind them about events they’ve signed up for.

Not sure that's how you want to go? Volunteer with a voter information hotline. All you need is a computer. They will train you on how to answer questions. I've done this several times and it can be very satisfying.

Protect the Vote: A national, non-partisan organization that works to inform voters about their voting rights. Several types of opportunities includeing voter information hotline.

https://protectthevote.net/

Here's one for Az

https://azdem.org/vote4az/

https://www.georgiademocrat.org/voter-protection-2/

-have $? Donating to the top of the ticket is less effective than donating down ballot. Your $ goes farther and if someone votes for state assembly/senate or house of reps, they are going to vote up ballot. The reverse is not necessarily true.

Sister District and Swing Left have funds to help down ballot candidates. I mean, you’ll still end up on mailing lists, but not from a specific candidate. https://movement.vote/ also has pretty good credentials

–Want to go non partisan, https://www.voteriders.org is working with https://dragoutthevote.org/ to provide valid voter IDs.

There are so many ways to help out and it really does feel good to take action. Many small activities can lead to large results.

I try my best not to be a doomer but dear lord if today’s SC decision didn’t bring my mental state right back to 2020

I completely 200% feel you, but I'm trying to think of it like this. Since all of the most awful people in the world are doing their utmost to help Trump win, think of how incredibly satisfying it will be if we all put in the work and make him fucking lose anyway. So many truly horrible people, especially Trump himself, are going to have a Real Bad Time if he loses this election again, with work and effort on our part this is still completely possible, and I for one vote we give it to them without delay. So. Yeah.

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