‘Vortex’ Patterns.

Golfing in Gaza?

Coffee, then News Items. Every day. — Katie Couric.

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1. Researchers studying the movement of crowds at a traditional Spanish festival have shown that densely packed groups of people form swirling ‘vortex’ patterns never before documented in human gatherings. The discovery, published on 5 February in Nature, contrasts with previous studies that have found crowds to move in more-chaotic ways. “I was like, what is this? Why 18 seconds?” says study co-author François Gu, referring to how often the circular motion repeated itself. The finding, which was the outcome of a computer analysis of video footage, was so puzzling that he spent more than a month double-checking the methods, says Gu, a physicist at the École Normale Supérieure in Lyon, France. He then realized that the swirling was clearly visible in videos of the event, once the footage was sped up. (Source: nature.com)

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2. Playing to the base: Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to resume Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza, in his most explicit pledge yet to reject a lasting ceasefire as Donald Trump said that Palestinians could be resettled away from the enclave. Israel and the Palestinian militant group agreed an initial truce last month that still has several more weeks to run, while talks are due to begin next week on a full halt to the war and the return of dozens of remaining Israeli hostages. “We can’t leave Hamas there [in Gaza], because Hamas will continue the battle to destroy Israel . . . you can’t talk about peace . . . if this toxic murderous organisation is left standing,” the Israeli prime minister said at a White House press conference on Tuesday alongside the US president. Netanyahu has previously said that Israel remains committed to its stated goals from the Gaza war, including “total victory” over Hamas. (Source: ft.com)