Author: Supriya Jena

San Francisco’s Embarcadero Plaza has a new and amazing art piece called “R-Evolution.” This giant sculpture is 45 feet tall and shows a nude woman. It was created by artist Marco Cochrane and was revealed on April 10. It will be on display for at least six months, and maybe longer if people love it!

Originally, “R-Evolution” was shown at the Burning Man festival in 2015. It’s made out of 55,000 pieces of steel, weighing 13,000 pounds, plus another 16,000 pounds of steel to keep it steady. The sculpture has a special feature that makes it look like it’s breathing for one hour every day and lights up at night.

The statue was supposed to go to Union Square but was moved because the ground there wasn’t strong enough to hold it. Embarcadero Plaza was chosen instead, which fits with plans to make the waterfront area better.

A video on X showed a worker doing a “surgical procedure” on the statue’s back.

Marco Cochrane designed this piece to show how women are often missing from public art. He said the sculpture “stands strong, aware, and grounded” and hopes for a world where everyone can feel safe.

“R-Evolution” is funded by the Sijbrandij Foundation, with help from the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department and the Port of San Francisco. Elaine Forbes, the executive director of the Port of San Francisco, said, “Public art can make our spaces better and help people feel more connected to the city.”

This installation is part of Cochrane’s “Bliss Project,” which includes sculptures that aim to change how people think about women’s bodies and promote equality.

A 16-year study on Olive Ridley turtles found that the turtles in the Indian Ocean are among the oldest in the world. The research, titled “Monitoring Sea Turtles in India 2008-2024,” was done by the Wildlife Institute of India and the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology. It was published by the Indian Institute of Science and DakShin Foundation in Bengaluru.

Olive Ridley turtles are the smallest sea turtles, and they lay their eggs on the beaches of Rushikulya and Gahirmatha in Odisha. Last month, over 1.3 million Olive Ridley turtles came to the Rushikulya beach to lay eggs, breaking the previous record of 1.15 million.

The scientists involved in the research looked at the genetics of sea turtles along India’s coast and its nearby islands. They discovered that the turtles in the Indian Ocean, especially along the eastern coast of India, are the most ancient Olive Ridley populations. In contrast, populations in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans likely moved there only hundreds of thousands of years ago.

Before this study, many believed that when the Isthmus of Panama formed 3 million years ago, it divided Olive Ridley turtles into two groups: one in the Atlantic and one in the Pacific. But this new research shows that the oldest turtles are actually in the Indian Ocean. It implies that these turtles survived a global climate change event 3-4 million years ago before populations eventually moved back to the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

The study also mentioned that as the Earth’s temperature rises, sea turtle populations could become more female-dominated. Researchers have been monitoring the temperatures of nests and the sex of hatchlings at Rushikulya, which is the largest nesting ground in India. They found that about 71% of the hatchlings are female.

However, researchers are still trying to understand why mass nesting (called arribada) doesn’t happen every year. They need more data over 15-20 years to see if there is a pattern. The reasons behind the triggering of these mass nesting events are still a mystery.

The Telangana High Court has decided that the harshest punishment is needed for serious acts of terror. This was clear when they upheld the death penalty for five men connected to the 2013 Dilsukhnagar bombings in Hyderabad. These bomb blasts tragically killed 18 people and injured 131 more at a busy shopping area.

The court described the attackers’ actions as “calculated savagery” and said they did it to create fear in society. In a lengthy 357-page ruling, the judges stated that such terrible acts deserve the toughest punishment under the law. This is because terror attacks threat the safety of everyone.

The court’s judges, K Lakshman and P Sree Sudha, emphasized the need for strong justice when innocent people are harmed. They labeled the bombings as “acts of war” against the country. The judges noted that the crime was not just about harming people, but it was also a serious challenge to the nation’s safety.

The five men—Asadullah, Tabrez, Zia, Mohd Tahseen, and Ajaz—were found guilty of planning these terrible attacks, which involved advanced explosives and were done in a very organized way. The court said these crimes, committed on February 21, 2013, were shocking and showed extreme bad intentions.

Although the court looked at reasons like mental health reports and chances for rehabilitation, they decided that this case met all the criteria to impose the death penalty according to Supreme Court guidelines. The judges stressed that when a crime is so shocking, society demands the strongest punishment. This isn’t just about getting back at the criminals, but about showing that justice is important.