India's Capital Chokes in Smog after Firework Ban Flouted

People walk on Kartavyapath near India Gate on a hazy morning in New Delhi, India, November 1, 2024.REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis
People walk on Kartavyapath near India Gate on a hazy morning in New Delhi, India, November 1, 2024.REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis
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India's Capital Chokes in Smog after Firework Ban Flouted

People walk on Kartavyapath near India Gate on a hazy morning in New Delhi, India, November 1, 2024.REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis
People walk on Kartavyapath near India Gate on a hazy morning in New Delhi, India, November 1, 2024.REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis

India's capital New Delhi was wreathed in poisonous smog Friday, with air pollution worsening after a fireworks ban was widely flouted for raucous celebrations for the Hindu festival of lights, Diwali.

New Delhi's traffic-clogged streets are home to more than 30 million people, and the city is regularly ranked as one of the most polluted urban areas on the planet.

The city is blanketed in cancer-causing acrid smog each year, primarily blamed on stubble burning by farmers in neighboring regions to clear their fields for ploughing, as well as factories and traffic fumes.

But air worsened Friday after a thunderous night of firecrackers lit as part of Diwali celebrations, despite city authorities last month banning their sale and use, AFP reported.

City police had seized nearly two tons of fireworks before Diwali, but the crackers remained readily available for sale in neighboring states.

Many residents celebrated at home, holding a family meal and lighting small candles in praise of the Hindu goddess Lakshmi and symbolizing the victory of light over darkness.

Others launched firework rockets and booming crackers, rocking the densely packed city throughout the night.

Police are often reluctant to act against violators, given the strong religious sentiments attached to the crackers by Hindu devotees.

Critics say arguments between rival politicians heading neighboring states -- as well as between central and state-level authorities -- have compounded the problem.

India's Supreme Court last month ruled that clean air was a fundamental human right, ordering both the central government and state-level authorities to take action.

"Delhi's toxic air is killing us softly with its smog," the Times of India wrote in an editorial last week, as the winter pollution returned.

Levels of fine particulate matter -- dangerous microparticles known as PM2.5 pollutants that enter the bloodstream through the lungs -- surged to more than 23 times the World Health Organization recommended daily maximum.

Soon after dawn, pollutant levels topped 345 micrograms per cubic meter, according to monitoring firm IQAir, which listed air in the sprawling megacity as "hazardous".

It rated New Delhi as worst in the world, just above smoke-choked Lahore in neighboring Pakistan, 400 kilometers to the northwest.

The New Delhi government has previously sought to cut pollution by restricting vehicle traffic, including a scheme that only allowed cars with odd or even number license plates to travel on alternate days.

Authorities have also imposed seasonal bans on construction work and on diesel-powered vehicles from entering the city.

"The gravity of the problem is such that incremental changes are insufficient," The Indian Express wrote, criticizing "an unfortunate lack of resolve from both the centre and state governments."



This Ancient Tadpole Fossil Is the Oldest Ever Discovered

 A fossil of the world's oldest tadpole, which coexisted with dinosaurs in the Middle Jurassic about 165 million years ago, is pictured next to a 3D-printed representation of the tadpole and of a fully developed frog, in Buenos Aires, Argentina October 28, 2024. (Reuters)
A fossil of the world's oldest tadpole, which coexisted with dinosaurs in the Middle Jurassic about 165 million years ago, is pictured next to a 3D-printed representation of the tadpole and of a fully developed frog, in Buenos Aires, Argentina October 28, 2024. (Reuters)
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This Ancient Tadpole Fossil Is the Oldest Ever Discovered

 A fossil of the world's oldest tadpole, which coexisted with dinosaurs in the Middle Jurassic about 165 million years ago, is pictured next to a 3D-printed representation of the tadpole and of a fully developed frog, in Buenos Aires, Argentina October 28, 2024. (Reuters)
A fossil of the world's oldest tadpole, which coexisted with dinosaurs in the Middle Jurassic about 165 million years ago, is pictured next to a 3D-printed representation of the tadpole and of a fully developed frog, in Buenos Aires, Argentina October 28, 2024. (Reuters)

Scientists have discovered the oldest-known fossil of a giant tadpole that wriggled around over 160 million years ago.

The new fossil, found in Argentina, surpasses the previous ancient record holder by about 20 million years.

Imprinted in a slab of sandstone are parts of the tadpole's skull and backbone, along with impressions of its eyes and nerves.

“It's not only the oldest tadpole known, but also the most exquisitely preserved,” said study author Mariana Chuliver, a biologist at Buenos Aires’ Maimonides University.

Researchers know frogs were hopping around as far back as 217 million years ago. But exactly how and when they evolved to begin as tadpoles remains unclear.

This new discovery adds some clarity to that timeline. At about a half foot (16 centimeters) long, the tadpole is a younger version of an extinct giant frog.

“It's starting to help narrow the timeframe in which a frog becomes a frog,” said Ben Kligman, a paleontologist at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History who was not involved with the research.

The results were published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

The fossil is strikingly similar to the tadpoles of today — even containing remnants of a gill scaffold system that modern-day tadpoles use to sift food particles from water.

That means the amphibians' survival strategy has stayed tried and true for millions of years, helping them outlast several mass extinctions, Kligman said.