‘Spiders’ on Mars? NASA scientists recreate mysterious Red Planet formations

Science and Health

This image from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, acquired May 13, 2018, during winter at the South Pole of Mars, shows a carbon dioxide ice cap covering the region. As the sun returns in the spring, “spiders” begin to emerge from the landscape. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona)
(NEW YORK) — Over two decades since NASA researchers first saw images of mysterious, spider-like formations across the southern hemisphere of Mars, the space agency announced it’s recreated the planet’s “spiders” here on Earth.
Dubbed “araneiform terrain,” the formations span over a half-mile long and have hundreds of branches that resemble spider legs, according to NASA.
Theories surrounding the Red Planet’s “spiders” date back to 2003, when researchers got a glimpse of the terrain via Mars orbiters, with many believing they are formed through carbon dioxide ice, which doesn’t occur naturally on Earth.
To confirm this hypothesis, researchers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California said they recreated the formation process in a simulated Mars environment that mimicked the planet’s air pressure and temperature.
The simulation chamber — called the Dirty Under-vacuum Simulation Testbed for Icy Environments, or DUSTIE for short — uses liquid nitrogen to reach temperatures as low as minus 301 degrees Fahrenheit, according to NASA.
Results from the five-year study were published this month in The Planetary Science Journal.
“The spiders are strange, beautiful geologic features in their own right,” JPL researcher Lauren Mc Keown said in a Sept. 11 press release. “These experiments will help tune our models for how they form.”
Researchers found that when sunlight heats soil underneath slabs of carbon dioxide ice that form on the surface of Mars each winter, the soil absorbs the heat and causes the ice closest to it to turn directly into carbon dioxide gas, according to NASA.
This process, called “sublimation,” causes the ice to crack and brings dust and soil to the surface of the ice, according to the agency.
“When winter turns to spring and the remaining ice sublimates, according to the theory, the spiderlike scars from those small eruptions are what’s left behind,” researchers wrote in the study.
To recreate the formation process in DUSTIE, researchers said they analyzed simulated Mars soil that was contained and submerged into a liquid nitrogen bath.
Matching the reduced air pressure to match that of Mars’ southern hemisphere, researchers said they watched as carbon dioxide gas then flowed into the chamber and condensed into ice over a period of three to five hours.
Researchers then placed a heater inside the chamber below the simulated soil to warm it up and crack the ice.
Mc Keown said she was “ecstatic” when the theories were proven by seeing a carbon dioxide gas plume erupt from within the Mars soil simulation.
Lab experiments and orbiter images are the closest look NASA has at these unique Martian spiders, with the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers exploring far from the region where they occur.
So far, a spacecraft has yet to land on the Red Planet’s southern hemisphere.
Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Scientists create one-dimensional gas made of light

Science and Health

Physicists from the University of Bonn and the University of Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU) have successfully created a one-dimensional gas using light, allowing them to experimentally test theoretical predictions about this exotic state of matter for the first time.

Their innovative method has the potential to advance the study of quantum effects.

Imagine standing by a swimming pool and wanting to increase the water level. By using a garden hose to produce a high-arching jet of water that falls onto the pool’s surface, you observe a minimal increase in the water level as the falling water quickly disperses. However, if you were to direct the jet into a gutter, the water would create a wave due to the confinement provided by the gutter’s walls.

The physicists from the Institute of Applied Physics (IAP) at the University of Bonn, in collaboration with colleagues at RPTU, have explored whether similar effects of dimensionality can be achieved with gases made out of light particles.

“To create these types of gases, we need to concentrate lots of photons in a confined space and cool them simultaneously,” explains Dr. Frank Vewinger from the IAP, who is also a member of the transdisciplinary research area “Matter” at the University of Bonn.

The polymers applied to the reflective surface – trap the photon gas in a parabola of light. The narrower this parabola is, the more one-dimensionally the gas behaves. Artistic illustration: IAP/Uni Bonn

In their experiment, researchers carefully prepared a minute container filled with a potent dye solution, which they then stimulated using a precise laser. The resulting photons ricocheted between the reflective walls of the container, undergoing a remarkable cooling process whenever they interacted with a dye molecule, ultimately leading to the condensation of the photon gas.

The dimensional properties of the gas were found to be modifiable by altering the surface of the reflective walls. This pioneering study was a result of collaboration between the researchers at the IAP and the esteemed research group led by Prof. Dr. Georg von Freymann from the RPTU. Leveraging a high-resolution structuring method, they successfully applied it to the reflective surfaces of the photon container, marking a significant advancement in this field of study.

“We were able to apply a transparent polymer to the reflective surfaces to create microscopically small protrusions,” explains Julian Schulz from the RPTU. “These protrusions allow us to trap the photons in one or two dimensions and condense them.”

Kirankumar Karkihalli Umesh witht the centerpiece of the experiment – a resonator mirror printed with polymer structures. Credit: Volker Lannert/ Uni Bonn

“These polymers act like a type of gutter, but in this case for light,” says Kirankumar Karkihalli Umesh, lead author of the study. “The narrower this gutter is, the more one-dimensionally the gas behaves.”

In two dimensions, a specific temperature threshold triggers condensation, much like water freezing at exactly zero degrees Celsius. Physicists refer to this as a phase transition.

“However, things are a little different when we create a one-dimensional gas instead of a two-dimensional one,” says Vewinger. “So-called thermal fluctuations take place in photon gases, but they are so small in two dimensions that they have no real impact. However, in one dimension, these fluctuations can – figuratively speaking – make big waves.”

These fluctuations disrupt the uniformity of one-dimensional systems, causing different regions within the gas to behave differently. Consequently, the phase transition, while still precisely defined in two dimensions, becomes increasingly “smeared out” in more one-dimensional systems. Nevertheless, its properties are still governed by quantum physics, similar to the case of two-dimensional gases, which are known as degenerate quantum gases. It’s akin to water transforming into a slushy state at low temperatures without completely freezing.

“We have now been able to investigate this behavior at the transition from a two-dimensional to a one-dimensional photon gas for the first time,” explains Vewinger.

The research teams successfully proved that one-dimensional photon gases lack a precise condensation point. With minor adjustments to polymer structures, a detailed exploration of phenomena at the transition between dimensionalities is now feasible. Although currently classified as basic research, this breakthrough has the potential to unveil new applications for quantum optical effects.

Journal reference:

Kirankumar Karkihalli Umesh, Julian Schulz, Julian Schmitt, Martin Weitz, Georg von Freymann, and Frank Vewinger. Dimensional crossover in a quantum gas of light. Nature Physics, 2024 DOI: 10.1038/s41567-024-02641-7

David Schwimmer turned down a lead role in ‘Men in Black’ to direct a movie with his friends. He missed out on being in one of the biggest movies of the ’90s.

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

Entertainment

David Schwimmer turned down a lead role in ‘Men in Black’ to direct a movie with his friends. He missed out on being in one of the biggest movies of the ’90s.

Ayomikun Adekaiyero

2024-09-19T11:05:08Z

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David Schwimmer (right) said he was asked to star in “Men In Black,” but the role ended up going to Will Smith.

Columbia Pictures / Dia Dipasupil / Getty Images

David Schwimmer told the “Origins with Cush Jumbo” he turned down a role in the “Men In Black.”Schwimmer said the role, which Will Smith took, could have made him a movie star.”Men In Black” became one of the biggest movies of the ’90s, and a major franchise.

Small Business Owners Are Watching the Election — But They’re Deeply Skeptical

Business News

Entrepreneur surveyed 500 small business owners across the country to ask how they’re feeling about their business and current events.Most reported a deep interest in the presidential election: Most (81%) say they are following the news closely, and 45% report daily monitoring. But only 40% actually believe and expect that the next president’s policies could improve their business.In fact, 39% of small business owners don’t have faith that any helpful policies will be passed next year — and 15% of both Democrats and Republicans believe that government policy cannot materially improve their business at all. (Independents were even more pessimistic, at 29% saying the government can’t help them.)

Related: 10 Significant Ways A Second Trump Administration Could Impact Your TaxesThat pessimism may be driven by the economy as a whole: The majority of respondents (70%) say they are concerned that the U.S. will enter a recession in the next two years. In fact, stressed-out entrepreneurs are losing an average of seven hours of sleep a week worrying about the state of their business.

So, where are small business owners feeling optimistic? Interestingly, the answer is in something that politicians are currently discussing regulations for: artificial intelligence.The majority (74%) of small owners report feeling optimistic about artificial intelligence, with 28% saying AI is helping their business become more efficient, 27% saying AI will create new business opportunities and 19% saying AI is saving them money.The optimism for AI falls along generational lines: 84% of millennial business owners see AI as helping their business in some way, while only 46% of baby boomer owners say the same.Related: 10 Significant Ways Your Taxes Will Be Impacted By A Kamala Harris Administration

As AI has gained prominence, other internet fixtures have begun to shift: Google has been adjusting its algorithms to favor forums like Reddit and Quora, X (formerly Twitter) has prioritized viral videos and more. Although that’s causing some impact for small business owners, 60% say these shifts have not meaningfully impacted their businesses.Entrepreneur’s survey of 500 small business owners was conducted in partnership with Talker Research in August. For the full results of our survey, click here.

This Home Owner Couldn’t Find the Lawn Care Equipment He needed, So He Created His Own. Here’s How Alibaba.com Fueled His Business.

Business News

Alibaba.com is sourcing made simple. It’s the easiest way to connect with suppliers, create products, and turn your business dreams into reality.”My Way” tells the stories of four entrepreneurs who utilized Alibaba.com’s capabilities to create, launch and grow their dream businesses.Self-described lawn care enthusiast Andrew Laplante wanted a less messy, more efficient way to spread peat moss around his property. And when he couldn’t find what he was looking for online, he resolved to develop a tool that would solve this problem for himself and for countless property owners.Hewent to work sketching plans for what would eventually become his signature product, the 24-inch Peat Moss Spreader. To bring his idea to life, Laplante submitted an RFQ (Request for Quotation) on Alibaba.com and was soon connected with multiple manufacturers. “The RFQ process made everything so simple for me because it gave me the ability to narrow down the manufacturers based on their years of experience and their star rating,” Laplante recounts.He credits Alibaba.com’s simplified sourcing tools with helping him find the right partner to build his design to his exact specifications, with no compromises. And that steadfastness paid off. His first shipment of products sold out within a week of launch and now his company Landzie is thriving with an expanded array of products.Find out more about Laplante’s journey, and how Alibaba.com’s resources fueled his entrepreneurial fire in the video above.Learn how Alibaba.com can help your business grow, visit Alibaba.com

Happy 90th birthday Sophia Loren! Her greatest films

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

20. Prêt-à-Porter (1994)Loren’s 14th and final collaboration with her frequent co-star Marcello Mastroianni provides one of the few bright spots in Robert Altman’s dog’s dinner of a satire. They play ex-lovers reuniting during Paris fashion week, during which she re-enacts her famous striptease from Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.View image in fullscreen19. A Countess from Hong Kong (1967)Charles Chaplin’s last film as director (and actor, in a cameo), and his first in colour, is a plodding misfire, not helped by a miscast Marlon Brando phoning in a lifeless performance. It’s left to Loren, as a stateless Russian countess who stows away in his cabin, to carry the show.18. Grumpier Old Men (1995)Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon reunite in this sequel for more curmudgeonly shenanigans. Matthau finds romance with Loren (now in her 60s and as alluring as ever), who plans to turn the oldsters’ favourite bait shop into a trattoria. All three actors have been in better comedies, but they are icons, so we’ll allow it.View image in fullscreen17. The Millionairess (1960)Looking like a goddess, Loren plays the world’s richest woman in this nonsensical adaptation of a George Bernard Shaw play, but an altruistic East End doctor (Peter Sellers in brownface) is immune to her charms. Loren and Sellers reprised these characters in a maddening novelty pop song called Goodness Gracious Me (not in the film).16. Legend of the Lost (1957)Loren, playing a woman of ill repute, gets sweaty in the Sahara with John Wayne, hired as a guide to help a Bible-basher (Rossano Brazzi) find a lost city. Not even Wayne can resist Sophia’s charms, but Henry Hathaway’s adventure yarn runs out of plot long before its characters run out of water.View image in fullscreen15. Houseboat (1958)Cary Grant and Loren, who had an affair while co-starring in The Pride and the Passion, reunited a year later for this serviceable romcom. He plays a widower who moves into a leaky houseboat; she’s a famous conductor’s daughter hired to look after his three children. She also sings Bing! Bang! Bong!14. Heller in Pink Tights (1960)George Cukor directed this minor but colourful western. Sophia wears a blond wig as an actress touring the old west with Anthony Quinn’s theatre troupe, and gets tied to a horse in his production of Mazeppa. The producer was Carlo Ponti, who nurtured Loren’s Hollywood career; their marriage lasted until his death in 2007.View image in fullscreen13. It Started in Naples (1960)An American lawyer (Clark Gable in his penultimate film) finds his late brother has left behind an eight-year-old son, now cared for by his aunt (Loren) on Capri. Cue local colour, May-September romance, dismantling of anti-Italian prejudice and Loren singing and dancing up a storm.12. The Life Ahead (2020)Loren came out of retirement to play a Holocaust survivor and former sex worker providing daycare in a southern Italian port in this drama written and directed by her son, Edoardo Ponti. She bonds with a 12-year-old Senegalese street kid who steals her bag. It’s manipulative and sentimental, and I wept buckets. By gum, she’s still got it!View image in fullscreen11. Boy on a Dolphin (1957)Loren’s first English language film, in which she plays a Greek sponge diver who finds an ancient statue, and is torn between an ethical archaeologist and a smarmy collector. It was the first Hollywood production filmed on location in Greece, but who’s looking at the Acropolis when Sophia is emerging from the Aegean sea in a wet dress?10. Sunflower (1970)Loren and Mastroianni get together again in Vittorio De Sica’s romantic melodrama – but not for long! Alas, it’s the second world war and he is dispatched to the Russian front. When the fighting is over she trudges all over the USSR searching for him, with results that will make you get something in your eye, dammit.View image in fullscreen9. The Cassandra Crossing (1976)Like many a Hollywood veteran in the 1970s, Loren found herself part of an all-star ensemble cast in a disaster movie. She and her ex-husband (played by Richard Harris) are trans-Europe train passengers exposed to a stowaway infected with a deadly plague. Not only that, but their train is speeding towards a dangerous viaduct. Fans of the genre won’t want to miss what happens next!8. The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964)Thanks to Loren’s larger-then-life screen persona, she holds her own against the pre-CGI spectacle in her two epics for director Anthony Mann. In an Edward Gibbon-inspired scenario (partly recycled by Gladiator), she plays Marcus Aurelius’s daughter, who joins her lover (Stephen Boyd) in trying to topple the despotic Emperor Commodus – Christopher Plummer on deliciously nutty form.View image in fullscreen7. Arabesque (1966)Stanley Donen fails to recreate the magic of his 1963 romantic thriller Charade, but Loren, looking ravishing in Dior as the villain’s girlfriend, almost single-handedly makes this chic England-set caper worth seeing. On the downside, Gregory Peck (playing a hieroglyphics professor) is no Cary Grant, while familiar British and Irish actors playing Middle Eastern characters in brownface are distracting, to say the least.6. The Key (1958)William Holden plays a Canadian tugboat captain assigned the suicidal mission of rescuing shipping from U-boats in the second world war. Like his killed-in-action predecessors, he seeks refuge in the flat of a Swiss expat played by Loren. She effectively dials down her sexiness for Carol Reed’s sombre drama (with exciting maritime action), but can’t help looking fabulous in striped pyjamas.View image in fullscreen5. Marriage Italian Style (1964)While Loren’s English language films often typecast her as a sexpot, the dozen or so films she made for De Sica provided her with more nuanced roles. In this romantic comedy, she plays the long-term mistress of a cynical businessman (Mastroianni, somehow making a despicable character likable) who fails to treat their relationship seriously until she pretends to be dying.4. El Cid (1961)In her first Anthony Mann epic (see Fall of the Roman Empire), Loren plays Chimene, whose marriage to the 11th-century Castilian hero (Charlton Heston) gets off to a rocky start when he kills her father in a duel. But they reconcile, and she ultimately radiates noble stoicism as her husband rides into legend, accompanied by Miklós Rózsa’s churchy score. Impossible to watch without blubbing.View image in fullscreen3. Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963)Loren and Mastroianni show their range playing three sets of Italian couples in De Sica’s Oscar-winning comic anthology. A working-class Neapolitan keeps getting pregnant to avoid jail; the callousness of a Milanese trophy wife shocks her boyfriend; and, in Rome, a high-class sex worker treats her frustrated client to one of cinema’s sexiest stripteases.2. Two Women (1960)De Sica’s neorealist wartime drama, adapted from a novel by Albert Moravia but based on the horrific real events of the Marocchinate, gives Loren one of the meatiest roles of her career and won her an Academy Award for best actress. She plays a mother who flees the allied bombing of Rome with her daughter. But worse is to come, in a harrowing story of survival that still packs a mighty punch.View image in fullscreen1. A Special Day (1977)Ettore Scola’s sepia-tinted but still pertinent study of everyday fascism is set in 1938, during Hitler’s state visit to Rome. Loren plays an overworked housewife whose husband and six kids have left with their neighbours to watch the parade, leaving her apartment block deserted except for a gay radio announcer (Mastroianni) awaiting deportation. The two bond in unlikely ways, treating us to one of cinema’s greatest screen couples operating at the top of their game.

Happy 90th birthday Sophia Loren! Her greatest films

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

20. Prêt-à-Porter (1994)Loren’s 14th and final collaboration with her frequent co-star Marcello Mastroianni provides one of the few bright spots in Robert Altman’s dog’s dinner of a satire. They play ex-lovers reuniting during Paris fashion week, during which she re-enacts her famous striptease from Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.View image in fullscreen19. A Countess from Hong Kong (1967)Charles Chaplin’s last film as director (and actor, in a cameo), and his first in colour, is a plodding misfire, not helped by a miscast Marlon Brando phoning in a lifeless performance. It’s left to Loren, as a stateless Russian countess who stows away in his cabin, to carry the show.18. Grumpier Old Men (1995)Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon reunite in this sequel for more curmudgeonly shenanigans. Matthau finds romance with Loren (now in her 60s and as alluring as ever), who plans to turn the oldsters’ favourite bait shop into a trattoria. All three actors have been in better comedies, but they are icons, so we’ll allow it.View image in fullscreen17. The Millionairess (1960)Looking like a goddess, Loren plays the world’s richest woman in this nonsensical adaptation of a George Bernard Shaw play, but an altruistic East End doctor (Peter Sellers in brownface) is immune to her charms. Loren and Sellers reprised these characters in a maddening novelty pop song called Goodness Gracious Me (not in the film).16. Legend of the Lost (1957)Loren, playing a woman of ill repute, gets sweaty in the Sahara with John Wayne, hired as a guide to help a Bible-basher (Rossano Brazzi) find a lost city. Not even Wayne can resist Sophia’s charms, but Henry Hathaway’s adventure yarn runs out of plot long before its characters run out of water.View image in fullscreen15. Houseboat (1958)Cary Grant and Loren, who had an affair while co-starring in The Pride and the Passion, reunited a year later for this serviceable romcom. He plays a widower who moves into a leaky houseboat; she’s a famous conductor’s daughter hired to look after his three children. She also sings Bing! Bang! Bong!14. Heller in Pink Tights (1960)George Cukor directed this minor but colourful western. Sophia wears a blond wig as an actress touring the old west with Anthony Quinn’s theatre troupe, and gets tied to a horse in his production of Mazeppa. The producer was Carlo Ponti, who nurtured Loren’s Hollywood career; their marriage lasted until his death in 2007.View image in fullscreen13. It Started in Naples (1960)An American lawyer (Clark Gable in his penultimate film) finds his late brother has left behind an eight-year-old son, now cared for by his aunt (Loren) on Capri. Cue local colour, May-September romance, dismantling of anti-Italian prejudice and Loren singing and dancing up a storm.12. The Life Ahead (2020)Loren came out of retirement to play a Holocaust survivor and former sex worker providing daycare in a southern Italian port in this drama written and directed by her son, Edoardo Ponti. She bonds with a 12-year-old Senegalese street kid who steals her bag. It’s manipulative and sentimental, and I wept buckets. By gum, she’s still got it!View image in fullscreen11. Boy on a Dolphin (1957)Loren’s first English language film, in which she plays a Greek sponge diver who finds an ancient statue, and is torn between an ethical archaeologist and a smarmy collector. It was the first Hollywood production filmed on location in Greece, but who’s looking at the Acropolis when Sophia is emerging from the Aegean sea in a wet dress?10. Sunflower (1970)Loren and Mastroianni get together again in Vittorio De Sica’s romantic melodrama – but not for long! Alas, it’s the second world war and he is dispatched to the Russian front. When the fighting is over she trudges all over the USSR searching for him, with results that will make you get something in your eye, dammit.View image in fullscreen9. The Cassandra Crossing (1976)Like many a Hollywood veteran in the 1970s, Loren found herself part of an all-star ensemble cast in a disaster movie. She and her ex-husband (played by Richard Harris) are trans-Europe train passengers exposed to a stowaway infected with a deadly plague. Not only that, but their train is speeding towards a dangerous viaduct. Fans of the genre won’t want to miss what happens next!8. The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964)Thanks to Loren’s larger-then-life screen persona, she holds her own against the pre-CGI spectacle in her two epics for director Anthony Mann. In an Edward Gibbon-inspired scenario (partly recycled by Gladiator), she plays Marcus Aurelius’s daughter, who joins her lover (Stephen Boyd) in trying to topple the despotic Emperor Commodus – Christopher Plummer on deliciously nutty form.View image in fullscreen7. Arabesque (1966)Stanley Donen fails to recreate the magic of his 1963 romantic thriller Charade, but Loren, looking ravishing in Dior as the villain’s girlfriend, almost single-handedly makes this chic England-set caper worth seeing. On the downside, Gregory Peck (playing a hieroglyphics professor) is no Cary Grant, while familiar British and Irish actors playing Middle Eastern characters in brownface are distracting, to say the least.6. The Key (1958)William Holden plays a Canadian tugboat captain assigned the suicidal mission of rescuing shipping from U-boats in the second world war. Like his killed-in-action predecessors, he seeks refuge in the flat of a Swiss expat played by Loren. She effectively dials down her sexiness for Carol Reed’s sombre drama (with exciting maritime action), but can’t help looking fabulous in striped pyjamas.View image in fullscreen5. Marriage Italian Style (1964)While Loren’s English language films often typecast her as a sexpot, the dozen or so films she made for De Sica provided her with more nuanced roles. In this romantic comedy, she plays the long-term mistress of a cynical businessman (Mastroianni, somehow making a despicable character likable) who fails to treat their relationship seriously until she pretends to be dying.4. El Cid (1961)In her first Anthony Mann epic (see Fall of the Roman Empire), Loren plays Chimene, whose marriage to the 11th-century Castilian hero (Charlton Heston) gets off to a rocky start when he kills her father in a duel. But they reconcile, and she ultimately radiates noble stoicism as her husband rides into legend, accompanied by Miklós Rózsa’s churchy score. Impossible to watch without blubbing.View image in fullscreen3. Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963)Loren and Mastroianni show their range playing three sets of Italian couples in De Sica’s Oscar-winning comic anthology. A working-class Neapolitan keeps getting pregnant to avoid jail; the callousness of a Milanese trophy wife shocks her boyfriend; and, in Rome, a high-class sex worker treats her frustrated client to one of cinema’s sexiest stripteases.2. Two Women (1960)De Sica’s neorealist wartime drama, adapted from a novel by Albert Moravia but based on the horrific real events of the Marocchinate, gives Loren one of the meatiest roles of her career and won her an Academy Award for best actress. She plays a mother who flees the allied bombing of Rome with her daughter. But worse is to come, in a harrowing story of survival that still packs a mighty punch.View image in fullscreen1. A Special Day (1977)Ettore Scola’s sepia-tinted but still pertinent study of everyday fascism is set in 1938, during Hitler’s state visit to Rome. Loren plays an overworked housewife whose husband and six kids have left with their neighbours to watch the parade, leaving her apartment block deserted except for a gay radio announcer (Mastroianni) awaiting deportation. The two bond in unlikely ways, treating us to one of cinema’s greatest screen couples operating at the top of their game.

 Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry announces 4th Chamber Business Awards

Business News

The Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI) is proud to announce the 4th edition of its prestigious Chamber Business Awards, scheduled to take place on Friday, September 27, 2024, at the Accra International Conference Centre.
The event will be held under the distinguished patronage of His Majesty King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, Ga Mantse, who will serve as the Special Guest of Honor.
The Chamber Business Awards is a hallmark event, celebrating outstanding businesses and individuals across Ghana who have demonstrated excellence in leadership, innovation, and sustainable business practices.
The awards aim to shine a spotlight on the key role businesses play in driving Ghana’s socio-economic growth, showcasing their entrepreneurial spirit and contribution to national development.
Since its inception, the Chamber Business Awards have earned a reputation for their credibility, transparency, and integrity. A rigorous selection process ensures that nominees are evaluated solely on merit.
This year’s evaluation was conducted by a Technical Committee comprising experts from esteemed government and private sector institutions, including representatives from the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ghana Revenue Authority, Institute of Chartered Accountants, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
The independent committee guarantees that each nominee is fairly assessed, reflecting the true excellence of Ghanaian business.
Event Highlights:

Date: Friday, September 27, 2024
Venue: Accra International Conference Centre
Time: 6:00pm

Ticket Information:
E-Tickets for the Chamber Business Awards are now available:

VIP: GH₵1,000 (Admits One)
GNCCI Members: GH₵500 (Admits One)
Non-Members: GH₵700 (Admits One)
Corporate Table for 10 Persons: GH₵15,000

LUX Audience Award 2025: the five finalist films revealed

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

Animal, Dahomey, Flow, Intercepted, and Julie Keeps Quiet have been shortlisted for the 2025 Lux European Audience Film Award.
The five shortlisted films were announced on Wednesday by the European Parliament first vice-president Sabine Verheyen (EPP, DE), and the chair of the Committee on Culture and Education Nela Riehl (Greens, EFA, DE). The announcement event took place for the first time at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
Following the announcement, vice-president Verheyen said: “European cinema reflects the challenges and hopes of our society. This year’s finalists, each in their distinct form, showcase the rich variety of the film world. They offer powerful perspectives on pressing issues such as women’s rights, climate change, our history and the war in Ukraine. They pen up important conversations and inviting us to see the world through diverse lenses.”
Committee chair Nela Riehl said: “Film is a medium of expression that transcends spatial, economic and social divides. Film is for everyone. It is a unique form of expression that uses emotion, narrative and wit to convey deeper, more commonly felt meanings that we can all relate to. That is what makes the LUX Awards fascinating – they show us a mirrored version of our diverse lives. I am happy to see that this year, again, people all over Europe will get to enjoy this wonderful art.”Discover the films
Animal, by Greek director Sofia Exarchou, looks at the unseen side of the tourist entertainment industry through the daily lives routine of the people that work in it. In an all-inclusive island resort during high season, entertainment staff work relentlessly and endure demanding working hours, while showing a brave face.Dahomey, by French director Mati Diop, is a documentary about the return of 26 royal treasures of the Kingdom of Dahomey, nearly 130 years after they were stolen by French colonial troops, to the Republic of Benin. Students of the University of Abomey-Calavi debate what attitude to adopt to this homecoming.Flow, by Latvian director Gints Zilbalodis, is an animated feature about a hero, Cat, who finds refuge on a boat with other animals, despite his solitary character. Set in a post-apocalyptic setting, Cat and his companions will have to team up despite their differences. Together, they will sail through mystical flooded landscapes and navigate the challenges and dangers of adapting to a new world.Intercepted, by Ukrainian-Canadian director Oksana Karpovych, is a documentary about the destruction caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the lives of those who resist and rebuild the country. Intercepted phone conversations between Russian soldiers and their families and friends in Russia, by Ukrainian intelligence services, reveal the cruelty and the dehumanising power of war.Julie Keeps Quiet, by Belgian director Leonardo van Dijl, is a drama about a star tennis player, whose life revolves around the game. When her coach falls under investigation for abusing his position and is suddenly suspended, the club’s players are encouraged to speak up. However, Julie decides to keep quiet.
Next steps
The winner of the LUX Audience Award is chosen jointly by citizens across the EU and by MEPs. A platform to rate the nominated films will be open from 18 September until April 2025. The winner will be announced in April 2025 at a ceremony in the European Parliament in Brussels, in the presence of the representatives of the finalist films.
Between September 2024 and April 2025, screenings and debates about the films will be organised by the Parliament together with MEPs.
Background
Since 2020, the LUX Audience Award has been awarded by the European Parliament and the European Film Academy, in partnership with the European Commission and the Europa Cinemas network. It fosters dialogue and engagement between politics and the public through the medium of film. The nominated films address European values and raise awareness about some of today’s main social and political issues such as mental health, poverty, climate change, freedom of expression, gender equality, LGBTIQ+ rights.
During the competition period, the European Parliament organises free screenings across the 27 Member States for the five nominated films that were selected by a panel of film professionals from across the EU. In the 2024 edition of the Award, more than 700 screenings of the shortlisted films were organised, with debates involving more than 70,000 audience members.
The Award is complemented by the Young Talent Programme, which was launched on 16 September 2024, to engage young cinema professionals in the promotion of European values and the LUX Audience Award project.