“Mathematics‚” Carl Friedrich Gauss is said to have claimed‚ “is the queen of the sciences.” Of course‚ as one of history's most famous and influential mathematicians‚ he was a little biased; ask a physicist‚ and she may well reply with the famous observation that “physics is to mathematics what sex is to masturbation.”But whether or not math is the queen‚ she could certainly be called the doyenne of the sciences. The subject is way older than other forms of rational inquiry‚ stretching back tens of thousands of years at least; when Ibn al-Haytham was busy inventing science in the 10th century‚ he was already relying on millennia of mathematical knowledge and discovery to inform his inquiry.Which raises an intriguing question: who kicked it all off?Lead us not into temptationThe earliest “mathematicians” – that is‚ the first people referred to by that name in English – were way more badass than today’s number-crunching nerds.“Domicianus‚ the son of Vespasian‚ reignede xv. yere and v. monethes‚ the wife of whom was callede firste Augusta; and he commandede hym to callede god‚ and the lorde of all thynges […] puttenge in to exile mony mathematicions and philosophres.”So wrote the anonymous translator of Ranulf Higden’s magnum opus of world history‚ the Polychronicon. It was somewhere in the second quarter of the 15th century‚ and as far as anyone has been able to tell‚ it was the first time the word “mathematician” had ever been used in English.It tells the story of Domitian‚ Emperor of Rome between 81 and 96 CE and‚ historians have generally agreed‚ a Not Very Cool Guy. Even today‚ when we’re usually all about the rehabilitation of maligned historical figures‚ the best we can say is that Domitian was “efficient” and “good at burying Vestal virgins alive”. In his own time‚ he was even less popular‚ with the Roman Senate damning his memory – essentially‚ formally writing him out of the history books – pretty much as soon as he popped his clogs (or‚ to be more accurate‚ had his clogs popped for him by a couple of assassins).Most of the reason for that was due to Domitian’s approach to ruling – one traditionally summed up by the Latin phrase futue tu ipsum. The emperor’s philosophy on power was simple: he had it‚ and he could do what he liked with it‚ and everyone else could shut the hell up.Anyone who refused to do so – such as philosophers‚ whom Epictetus had famously declared would “look tyrants steadily in the face” – would be expelled from Rome. We can only speculate as to why mathematicians supposedly provoked Domitian’s ire – but they joined not just philosophers‚ but also adulterers (harsh) and mimes (understandable) in their status as enemies of the Emperor.While this level of controversy over sums might seem strange to us‚ it may not have been so odd to Higden. As an English monk writing in the 14th century‚ he would have been very familiar with the teachings of Saint Augustine of Hippo – a man whose views on math were something akin to a hyper-religious Malibu Stacy’s.“The good Christian should beware of mathematicians‚” reads De Genesi ad litteram‚ a 4th-century exegetical text by the beatified megaherbivore. “The danger already exists that the mathematicians have made a covenant with the devil to darken the spirit and to confine man in the bonds of Hell”.Art in heavenNow‚ in fairness to Augustine‚ he almost certainly meant astrologers rather than mathematicians – and despite frequently being confused for each other‚ math and hokum are different things. But in this imperfect translation lies a clue to an even earlier chapter in mathematical history.Every ancient culture that studied math came to it via their own route: for the Greeks‚ it was harnessing geometry and logic to come up with theorems and proofs – concepts that there’s pretty much no evidence for before people like Pythagoras and Plato started teaching them after the 6th century BCE. In ancient China‚ on the other hand‚ math grew up primarily as a practical system for governance and provision; in India‚ texts as old as the 8th century BCE Shatapatha Brahmana used math as a way to commune with the gods.   But for the Ancient Babylonians‚ working as far back as 1600 BCE‚ it was astronomy that set their mathematical tradition apart from all the others. Their observations form some of the earliest known examples of ancient math: “Scribes systematically began documenting celestial phenomena (e.g. eclipses) in about the eighth century BC‚” wrote mathematician Chris Linton in his 2004 book From Eudoxus to Einstein: A History of Mathematical Astronomy. “In order to carry out their work‚ astrologers needed tables of the future positions of heavenly bodies […] and this desire was the driving force behind the production of such tables for over 2000 years.”The oldest Babylonian math‚ such as that seen on Plimpton 322‚ is a weird mix of rudimentary and impressive. It’s incomplete and contains mistakes; there’s no evidence of any technique being applied‚ and it probably wasn’t even written by a mathematician at all. But at the same time‚ it’s evidence of an extremely ancient mathematical tradition that some say rivaled Renaissance Europe in its sophistication.But were they the first?The first named mathematicianIn fact‚ we can go quite a bit further back than Plimpton 322 before we run out of examples of written math. Over in Egypt‚ people had been using – and‚ more importantly for our purposes‚ recording – mathematics for as long as they’d been writing at all‚ with evidence of a base-10 number system being found on artifacts from over five millennia ago.“By 3000 BC […] agriculture had been developed making heavy use of the regular wet and dry periods of the year‚” wrote John Joseph O'Connor and Edmund Robertson‚ both researchers at the University of St Andrews School of Mathematics and Statistics. “Knowing when the rainy season was about to arrive was vital and the study of astronomy developed to provide calendar information.”On top of that‚ “the large area covered by the Egyptian nation required complex administration‚ a system of taxes‚ and armies had to be supported‚” they added. “As the society became more complex‚ records required to be kept‚ and computations done as the people bartered their goods. A need for counting arose‚ then writing and numerals were needed to record transactions.”And for the best evidence of Egyptian mathematical prowess‚ look no further than the most iconic of the civilization’s achievements: the pyramids. “The Great Pyramid at Giza was built around 2650 BC and it is a remarkable feat of engineering‚” the pair point out. “This provides the clearest of indications that the society of that period had reached a high level of achievement […] some of the measurements of the Great Pyramid […] make some people believe that it was built with certain mathematical constants in mind.”So‚ were the Ancient Egyptians the first mathematicians? Well‚ in one rather important way‚ yes‚ they were: the earliest known named author of a math textbook – known as the Rhind Papyrus‚ and containing some 84 practice problems covering arithmetic‚ geometry‚ and primitive algebra – came from the so-called Second Intermediate Period of Egypt. His name was Ahmes‚ and he almost certainly wasn’t actually a mathematician. The papyrus‚ according to his own introduction to the work‚ “was copied in the year 33‚ in the fourth month of the inundation season‚ under the majesty of the king of Upper and Lower Egypt‚ ‘A-user-Re’‚ endowed with life‚ in likeness to writings of old made in the time of the king of Upper and Lower Egypt‚ Ne-ma’et-Re” – in regular numbers‚ that translates to having been written in around 1650 BCE and copied from work dating roughly two centuries earlier than that.Other than that‚ though‚ we know virtually nothing about Ahmes – a pretty much random scribe who probably never knew he’d end up such a seminal figure in the history of math.In the beginningWe’ve gone back more than 5‚000 years at this point – past the point where we can even put names to figures‚ even – and it’s tempting to think we must have found the first mathematician by now. Honestly‚ though‚ we’re nowhere near. For that‚ we have to go back not a few thousand years‚ but tens of thousands – all the way back to the stone age.“It is taking an unnecessarily restrictive view of the history of mathematics to confine [the] study to written evidence‚” writes mathematician‚ and specialist in the history of math‚ George Gheverghese Joseph in his 2010 book The Crest of the Peacock: Non-European Roots of Mathematics. “Mathematics initially arose from a need to count and record numbers‚” he explains. “If we define mathematics as any activity that arises out of‚ or directly generates‚ concepts relating to numbers or spatial configurations together with some form of logic‚ we can then legitimately include […] protomathematics‚ which existed when no written records were available.”The first mathematician‚ by this metric‚ wasn’t some Roman or Greek writing down abstract theorems‚ and it wasn’t a Babylonian recording the stars. It wasn’t even Ahmes‚ or the students dutifully working through the problems he had set. It was whoever created the Ishango bone.It’s a small thing‚ only about 10 centimeters (3.9 inches) in length‚ and at first glance‚ you might not suspect it has anything to do with math at all. The key is in the notches that have been scraped into its sides: four groups in this row; four in that; eight in another; all in different amounts and with varying spacing between them.The Ishango Bone on display at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences.Joeykentin‚ CC BY-SA 4.0‚ via Wikimedia CommonsIt sounds haphazard‚ but it’s not. “Certain underlying numerical patterns may be observed within each of the rows‚” Joseph points out. “The markings on rows (a) and (b) each add up to 60 […] Row (b) contains the prime numbers between 10 and 20. Row (a) is quite consistent with a numeration system based on 10‚ since the notches are grouped as 20 + 1‚ 201‚ 10+ 1‚ and 10- 1. Finally‚ row (c)‚ where subgroups (5‚ 5‚ 10)‚ (8‚ 4)‚ and (6‚ 3) are clearly demarcated‚ has been interpreted as showing some appreciation of the concept of duplication or multiplying by 2.”Exactly why the Ishango bone was created is a mystery – some believe it was used for mathematical games; others that it functioned as a calendar for religious or meteorological purposes. There’s even speculation that the Ishango people eventually bequeathed their number system to the Egyptians – making the bone not just evidence of some ancient calculator‚ but the closest thing the math world has to a Last Universal Common Ancestor. With an age of between 20‚000 and 25‚000 years‚ it’s true that other potentially mathematical artifacts have been found that predate it – the Lebombo bone‚ for example‚ beats it by 20‚000 years or so‚ and might be the earliest known period tracker. But for now‚ it’s the Ishango bone that takes the crown as the oldest confirmed mathematical object in existence – and its creator‚ whoever they were‚ is undoubtedly the world’s first known mathematician.

A row of about 20 Mancala game boards has been discovered in a Kenyan wildlife conservancy‚ suggesting local herders may have whittled their days away playing the popular strategy game thousands of years ago. The boards were found carved into a rock ledge‚ and while it’s impossible to determine their age‚ researchers say the discovery transforms our understanding of ancient life in East Africa.“People tend to look at early life as brutish‚ nasty‚ and short‚” explained Yale archaeologist Veronica Waweru in a statement. “But perhaps life was not all about survival‚” she adds‚ referring to the apparent popularity of Mancala back in the day.Still played across the world today‚ Mancala is a two-player strategy game in which participants attempt to capture as many of their opponent’s pieces as they can. The oldest known playing boards were found in a Neolithic dwelling in Jordan and have been dated to between 7‚500 and 8‚000 years ago.It’s thought that the game was later introduced to East Africa by Arabian traders‚ with Mancala boards from around 700 CE having been identified in Eritrea and Ethiopia.Waweru came across the row of game boards while visiting a site known for its prehistoric hand axes in the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. Nearby‚ archaeologists had previously discovered an ancient burial complex consisting of 19 stone cairns.Noticing a row of shallow pits carved into the rock‚ Waweru recognized that the indents were deep enough to hold a handful of stones and were a suitable shape and size for playing Mancala. “It’s a valley full of these game boards‚ like an ancient arcade‚” she says.“Given the erosion of some of the boards‚ I believe people were playing these games there a very long time ago‚” continues Waweru. However‚ because the rock into which the boards were carved is around 400 million years old‚ it’s not possible to say with any certainty how long ago the pits were made.What’s clear‚ though‚ is that some of the boards were touch-up or re-dug over time‚ suggesting that they were in use across a long period. “Was there some ritual going on there on a regular basis over long periods of time?” Waweru ponders.Despite a lack of solid evidence regarding the identity of the ancient Mancala players‚ Waweru speculates that the game boards were probably used by shepherds in the distant past. “Modern people in the region tend to play games like Mancala when they are out herding‚” she notes. “That’s probably what they were doing here.”The first herding societies appeared in the region around 5‚000 years ago‚ so the boards could potentially have been carved at any time since then.Overall‚ life for these prehistoric pastoralists appears to have been rather pleasant‚ with evidence suggesting that when they weren’t gaming‚ they enjoyed dining on grilled meat. According to Waweru‚ marks found on nearby rocks indicate that they were used for sharpening metal knives.“If they are sharpening knives there‚ they are probably feasting and performing butchery and barbecuing‚” she said.

New research is showing that the population of wolves living in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (CEZ) is genetically different from their counterparts outside of the region. Remarkably‚ the irradiated wolves appear to have developed protective mutations that increase their odds of surviving cancer. Populations of wolves‚ as well as other animals‚ have boomed in the CEZ of Ukraine since the area was abandoned following the infamous 1986 nuclear disaster. In the absence of people‚ wildlife has been allowed to thrive without disruption of human activity. However‚ to enjoy this freedom‚ animals must confront the glaring problem of radiation. After all‚ that is why humans left in the first place. To understand how these animals survive against the odds‚ Cara Love‚ an evolutionary biologist and ecotoxicologist at Princeton University‚ has been studying the wolves of Chernobyl for a decade. In 2014‚ Love and her colleagues headed to the CEZ and took blood samples from the wolves to understand their responses to cancer-causing radiation. Some were also fitted with radio collars to gather information on their locations and their exposure to radiation.“We get real-time measurements of where they are and how much [radiation] they are exposed to‚” Love said in a statement.The research showed that wolves in the CEZ are exposed to more than 11.28 millirem of radiation every single day for their entire lives – that’s over six times the legal limit for human workers.The researchers also noted that the wolves have altered immune systems‚ similar to patients undergoing radiation treatment for cancer. Furthermore‚ genetic analysis suggests that parts of the wolves’ genome have developed some resilience to cancer.Similar findings have been seen among the hundreds of semi-feral dogs that live in the CEZ. In 2023‚ scientists found the free-wheeling dogs of Chernobyl were genetically different from pet dogs living elsewhere in the world.Love’s discovery could have implications for human health too. Love hopes to use the findings to identify protective mutations that increase people’s odds of surviving cancer. Unfortunately‚ the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing war with Russia have prevented Love and her collaborators from returning to the CEZ. There’s no telling if and when they will be able to return.“Our priority is for people and collaborators there to be as safe as possible‚” said Love.The new research was presented last month at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology’s Annual Meeting in Seattle‚ Washington.

One of the deepest metal mines in Europe – the Pyhäsalmi Mine in central Finland – is to be turned into an enormous gravity battery capable of storing 2 megawatts of energy.As the planet moves towards renewable energy‚ we are faced with the problem of storage. The problem is that the wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine at precisely the time when people want to consume their power. On particularly windy or sunny days‚ too much electricity can be generated‚ leading to a situation where consumers are paid to consume electricity rather than overload the grid. But power that isn't used becomes lost.It would be better‚ of course‚ if we could store that energy away for later use. Gravity batteries are one way of doing that.Despite the cool name‚ the idea behind gravity batteries is really simple. During times when energy sources are producing more energy than the demand‚ the excess energy is used to move weights (in the form of water or sometimes sand) upwards‚ turning it into potential energy. When the power supply is low‚ these objects can then be released‚ powering turbines as our good friend (and deadly enemy) gravity sends them towards the Earth. Though generally gravity batteries take the form of reservoirs‚ abandoned mines moving sand or other weights up when excess power is being produced have also been suggested. Scottish company Gravitricity created a system of winches and hoists that can be installed in such disused mineshafts. The company will install the system in the 1‚400-meter-deep (4‚600 feet) zinc and copper mine in Pyhäjärvi‚ Finland.“As the world generates more electricity from intermittent renewable energy sources‚ there is a growing need for technologies which can capture and store energy during periods of low demand and release it rapidly when required‚” Gravitricity co-founder Martin Wright said of the technology late last year.“Our GraviStore underground gravity energy storage uses the force of gravity to offer some of the best characteristics of lithium-ion batteries and pumped hydro storage – at low cost‚ and without the need for any rare earth metals."

Oceans inside moons seem to be quite common among the satellites of the giant planets of the Solar System‚ and researchers believe they can add one more to the list: Mimas. The small Saturnian moon is popular for its cratered surface‚ one of which makes it look remarkably like Star Wars’ Death Star. But it seems that the surface hides a lot beneath it.The work builds on previous research that showed that Mimas has irregularities in its orbit. One suggestion was that it possessed an egg-shaped rocky core‚ causing the drift. Another possibility was an ocean buried deep within the moon‚ not affecting the surface much.New models suggest the latter scenario is the one that makes by far the most sense. The elongated core would have to be more like a pancake than an egg. The models suggest a liquid ocean may be found between 20 to 30 kilometers (12 to 19 miles) beneath the surface.“Mimas is a small moon‚ only about 400 kilometers [249 miles] in diameter‚ and its heavily cratered surface gave no hint of the hidden ocean beneath‚" co-author Dr Nick Cooper‚ from Queen Mary University of London‚ said in a statement seen by IFLScience. "This discovery adds Mimas to an exclusive club of moons with internal oceans‚ including Enceladus and Europa‚ but with a unique difference: its ocean is remarkably young‚ estimated to be only 5 to 15 million years old."        The range of potential ages is slightly wider than that‚ depending on the model one uses. The oldest the ocean can be is 25 million years old. The youngest is just 2 million years old. No matter the exact age‚ the ocean is incredibly young. No other known ocean moon compares.“The existence of a recently formed liquid water ocean makes Mimas a prime candidate for study‚ for researchers investigating the origin of life‚” explains Dr Cooper.The analysis was possible thanks to data from the Cassini mission‚ an international collaboration between NASA‚ the European Space Agency‚ and the Italian Space Agency. It spent 13 years around Saturn‚ studying the planet‚ its rings‚ and its moons. It was purposely destroyed in 2017 to protect these moons from potential contamination from Earth. And almost seven years on‚ the data keeps leading to major discoveries.  “This has been a great team effort‚ with colleagues from five different institutions and three different countries coming together under the leadership of Dr Valéry Lainey to unlock another fascinating and unexpected feature of the Saturn system‚ using data from the Cassini mission‚” Dr Cooper stated.The study is published in the journal Nature.

Geologists have unearthed new evidence that the Pacific Ocean plate is wracked with colossal faults‚ caused by the plate slowly drifting westward and plunging into the Earth’s mantle. The researchers believe their findings‚ if accurate‚ have the potential to redefine what we previously understood about how our planet works. From our human perspective‚ Earth seems like a solid‚ immutable object. However‚ the planet’s geological structure is in a constant (albeit very‚ very slow) state of change. Try to visualize Earth's crust as puzzle pieces that float on a hot‚ gooey layer. The pieces of the jigsaw are tectonic plates: vast slabs of solid rock that slowly drift on top of the molten mantle. Oceanic plates are plates that are primarily under the ocean‚ while continental plates form continent land masses.It’s currently assumed that the oceanic plates are largely rigid and only change shape near subduction zones along the plate boundaries. However‚ this new study suggests that isn’t necessarily the case. Their discovery of fault damage at the center of the Pacific Ocean plate – including cracks that are thousands of meters deep and hundreds of kilometers long – indicates that the oceanic plates are not as rigid and strong as once thought. “We knew that geological deformations like faults happen on the continental plate interiors far from plate boundaries‚ but we didn't know the same thing was happening to ocean plates‚” Erkan Gün‚ first study author from the University of Toronto‚ said in a statement.“What we're doing is refining plate tectonics — the theory that describes how our planet works — and showing those plates really aren't as pristine as we previously thought‚" added Professor Russell Pysklywec‚ also from the University of Toronto.To reach these findings‚ the team used supercomputer models and existing data to study four plateaus in the western Pacific Ocean — covering a vast area roughly between Japan‚ Hawaii‚ New Zealand‚ and Australia.The researchers say the Pacific Ocean plate being pulled westward is a bit like a tablecloth being pulled from a table. As the sheet is being tugged‚ certain patches of weaker cloth are more prone to tearing. These weak spots are the plateaus where the extensive fault damage has been located.More work is needed before this theory is confirmed. These researchers hope their study will bring attention to the plateaus and inspire researchers to collect more data.“The theory’s not carved in stone and we’re still finding new things. Now we know this fault damage is tearing apart the centre of an ocean plate — and this could be linked to seismic activity and volcanism‚” explained Pysklywec. “A new finding like this overturns what we’ve understood and taught about the active Earth. And it shows that there are still radical mysteries about even the grand operation of our evolving planet‚” he concludes.The new study is published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

Back in December 2020‚ Chang’e-5 flew to the Moon‚ landed‚ collected rocks‚ and brought them back to Earth. This was the first collection of lunar material in 45 years and it is delivering fascinating insights into the composition and history of the Moon.The samples have once again confirmed the presence of water on the Moon as well as finding rust in the surface rocks. The latest work looked at high-pressure minerals‚ those formed as a consequence of asteroid or cometary impacts. As we can see with our naked eye‚ the Moon is covered in craters but in samples collected during the Apollo years and by the Soviets‚ these minerals are lacking.In the sample‚ the team discovered a new phosphate mineral they are calling Changesite-(Y)‚ the first new lunar mineral from the sample collected by the Chinese probe. They believed it formed late in the crystallization stage of basalts found in the region where Chang’e-5 landed. It is transparent and colorless and it is made of column-shaped crystals.If this discovery was not exciting enough‚ the team found two known shock minerals: stishovite and seifertite. These are silica polymorphs and have the same composition as the regular quartz you might have seen around‚ but they have a dramatically different crystalline structure due to their formation at high pressures and temperatures."Although the lunar surface is covered by tens of thousands of impact craters‚ high-pressure minerals are uncommon in lunar samples‚" author Wei Du‚ from the Chinese Academy of Sciences‚ said in a press statement. "One of the possible explanations for this is that most high-pressure minerals are unstable at high temperatures. Therefore‚ those formed during impact could have experienced a retrograde process."A specific sample gave them important insights into this process. They found both stishovite and seifertite in the same sample‚ and these minerals only exist together at higher pressures. For this reason‚ the team suggested that maybe the minerals change shape from one to the other in changing conditions.They believe that a third identified silica polymorph (α-cristobalite) is the original product from which both shock minerals are formed."In other words‚ seifertite could form from α-cristobalite during the compressing process‚ and some of the sample transformed to stishovite during the subsequent temperature-increasing process‚" said Du.The samples are believed to have come from the Aristarchus crater not too far from Oceanus Procellarum where the probe landed. The ejecta from the collision landed where Chang’e-5 found them.A paper describing the results is published in the journal Matter and Radiation at Extremes.

In a heartwarming tale of unexpected friendship‚ a stray cat began joining a dog’s daily walks‚ weaving a story of companionship that transcends species. This intriguing narrative unfolds as a stray cat starts to follow a dog and her owner during their routine strolls. Initially met with curiosity‚ the dog‚ named Coconut‚ quickly warms up... The post Stray cat keeps joining dog on daily walks and then mom figures out what he really wants appeared first on Animal Channel.

X owner Elon Musk repeatedly blasted President Joe Biden’s administration for encouraging “illegal immigration” to benefit Democrats while leftist media outlets went out of their way to make excuses for the president. In a Feb. 2 post on X‚ Musk pointed out Biden’s “Simple‚ yet effective‚” two-pronged strategy to advance his anti-American agenda by exploiting illegal immigration. He accused Biden of attempting to  “get as many illegals in the country as possible” and to “[l]egalize them to create a permanent [Democrat] majority – a one-party state.” He added‚ “That is why they are encouraging so much illegal immigration.” Musk continued to hammer this point over the next few days arguing that Biden was “rolling out the red carpet” for illegal immigrants.  Musk also went after Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas as his impeachment moved through the U.S. House of Representatives‚ on Feb. 3. “Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas issued written guidance making it clear that…Illegal presence alone is not grounds for deportation‚” Musk wrote before adding‚ “Criminal charges‚ convictions or gang membership alone are not enough for deportation. You basically have to be a convicted axe murderer to be deported! That’s because every deportation is a lost vote.” Two days later the X CEO responded to a clip of The Daily Wire host Matt Walsh bashing Biden for refusing to do his job on the border. “Rather than secure the borders‚ this administration and many states are rolling out the red carpet!‚” Musk said. Exactly. Rather than secure the borders‚ this administration and many states are rolling out the red carpet!https://t.co/FUA1TxWVMY https://t.co/6xkeY6eoHi — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 5‚ 2024 While Musk criticizes the Biden Administration on X for violating his constitutional obligations to secure the border‚ media outlets like NBC and ABC have done everything to downplay Biden and company’s culpability for the humanitarian crisis. One of Biden’s first acts as president was to end the national emergency at our southern border that former President Donald Trump declared in 2019. Biden also declared in the same proclamation that “no more American taxpayer dollars be diverted to construct a border wall.”  Recently‚ ABC and NBC have been busy running cover for Mayorkas in the midst of his impeachment proceedings. ABC’s Good Morning America co-anchor George Stephanopoulos and others repeatedly gave voice to liberal talking points during the Jan. 31 edition of his show. For example‚ Stephanopoulos told viewers that‚ “there’s a “push to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his handling of the southern border despite no evidence of high crimes or misdemeanors.” NBC’s​​​​​​​ Today co-host Savannah Guthrie fretted that impeaching Mayorkas might jeopardize border legislation backed by President Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).  Conservatives are under attack! Contact ABC News (818) 460-7477‚ CBS News (212) 975-3247 and NBC News (212) 664-6192 and demand they report they stop running cover for the Biden Administration’s disastrous border policies

MSNBC’s Joy Reid is out with a new book on Medgar Evers‚ a civil rights activist who was assassinated in 1963‚ and his wife‚ Myrlie. Her book tour took her to CBS and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday‚ where she would compare her favorite politicians‚ such as Liz Cheney‚ Adam Kinzinger‚ and the Tennessee Three‚ to Evers by noting their “courage.” Colbert asked‚ “I'm curious what you learned in your research for this book that is applicable to our country and the divisions that we have today.”     Reid replied‚ “I would say what I learned was about courage and I think that is the other theme in this book. You think about today who are afraid to stand up to a former reality TV show star president because of a tweet. And yes‚ indeed people do face death threats if you speak against him‚ but a lot of the people who were facing those death threats can afford 24-hour security because they're wealthy people.” Getting to some examples‚ Reid continued‚ “You know‚ these are people who went into the battle for civil rights with no resources‚ no support‚ and so I think about today the political courage of people who I deeply disagree with. Your Toby Keith segment really moves me because this is the thing: I disagree with Adam Kinzinger‚ I disagree with Liz Cheney vehemently on their politics‚ but that’s political courage to stand up to your party‚ to stand up for your country.” Reid can claim she still has profound differences with Kinzinger and Cheney‚ but for all the talk about how their beef with the Trump-era GOP is about election denialism and January 6‚ Kinzinger specifically has started to sound more and more liberal on actual issues. Reid also wasn’t going to pick any Democrats who “stand up” to the radical segment of the party. Instead she picked the radical segment‚ “The Tennessee three. These 20 something-year-old state senators and Ms. Glory Johnson‚ their 60 something-year-old friend who came together and said‚ ‘We're going to stand up against the Speaker of the Tennessee House.’ Those small acts of courage are what can save our democracy and to have courage‚ you have to love something‚ right?” Courage means being willing to face the consequences of your actions because you did what you thought was right. The expelled Democrats—who were fighting for gun control‚ not civil rights—didn’t have much to lose as they quickly re-won their seats. Still‚ Reid declared‚ “If there's a fire in your home‚ you're going to run to save your kids because you love them and in order to really have courage‚ you have to access that love and so‚ I think that's what I learned‚ is that there was so much courage back then and the people today‚ we have so much more‚ so many more resources. We need to have a little courage to save this democracy.” And courage apparently means “do whatever Joy Reid tells you to do.” Here is a transcript for the February 6-taped show: CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert 2/7/2024 12:17 AM ET STEPHEN COLBERT: We have to go here just a second‚ but I'm curious‚ I'm curious what you learned in your research for this book that is applicable to our country and the divisions that we have today.  JOY REID: I would say what I learned was about courage and I think that is the other theme in this book. You think about today who are afraid to stand up to a former reality TV show star president because of a tweet. And yes‚ indeed people do face death threats if you speak against him‚ but a lot of the people who were facing those death threats can afford 24-hour security because they're wealthy people.  This was a man who had no money‚ he wasn't even making enough money to sometimes afford his insurance premiums and he was a former insurance salesman.  You know‚ these are people who went into the battle for civil rights with no resources‚ no support‚ and so I think about today the political courage of people who I deeply disagree with. Your Toby Keith segment really moves me because this is the thing: I disagree with Adam Kinzinger. I disagree with Liz Cheney vehemently on their politics‚ but that’s political courage to stand up to your party‚ to stand up for your country.  The Tennessee three. These 20 something-year-old state senators and Ms. Glory Johnson‚ their 60 something-year-old friend who came together and  said "we're going to stand up against the Speaker of the Tennessee House." Those small acts of courage are what can save our democracy and to have courage you have to love something‚ right? If-- you love your kids‚ right? If there's a fire in your home‚ you're going to run to save your kids because you love them and in order to really have courage you have to access that love and so‚ I think that's what I learned‚ is that there was so much courage back then and the people today‚ we have so much more‚ so many more resources. We need to have a little courage to save this democracy.