WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.980 Good morning. I'm Micah Finch. It's Sunday, October 4th, and this is your lolwhat.net 2 00:00:05.980 --> 00:00:06.980 morning briefing. 3 00:00:06.980 --> 00:00:12.120 First, let's look at the animal family tree. Research described by the University of Oxford 4 00:00:12.120 --> 00:00:17.420 on Friday suggests its roots could reach much further back than the clearest fossils show. 5 00:00:17.420 --> 00:00:22.020 The interesting part is how the researchers challenged an assumption. A remarkably preserved 6 00:00:22.020 --> 00:00:28.160 fossil deposit in China, about 590 million years old, contains no organisms confidently 7 00:00:28.160 --> 00:00:33.040 identified as animals. That absence has been used to limit estimates of when animals first 8 00:00:33.040 --> 00:00:39.400 evolved. But the team examined more than 140 samples from a younger deposit in Mongolia. 9 00:00:39.400 --> 00:00:44.000 Those samples also preserve tiny organisms beautifully, without clear animal fossils, 10 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:48.560 even though animals are known from other places at that time. A fossil bed can preserve a 11 00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:52.080 remarkable collection, while leaving some inhabitants unrecorded. 12 00:00:52.300 --> 00:00:57.260 Using older fossil constraints to recalibrate estimates based on genetic differences, 13 00:00:57.260 --> 00:01:02.800 the researchers placed animal origins between 700 and 800 million years ago. 14 00:01:02.800 --> 00:01:06.100 That estimate depends on how the genetic model is calibrated, 15 00:01:06.100 --> 00:01:10.560 and the authors emphasize that the precise origin of animals remains uncertain. 16 00:01:10.560 --> 00:01:13.900 The advance is a stronger reason to question the younger limit. 17 00:01:13.900 --> 00:01:18.660 The earliest animals' small, soft bodies may have left a history that remains difficult to find. 18 00:01:20.150 --> 00:01:25.990 Next, let's look at Bangkok's flood recovery, where improvements are real but very local. 19 00:01:25.990 --> 00:01:31.830 Thai PBS reported on Saturday that water had fallen by 20 to 30 centimeters in part of the 20 00:01:31.830 --> 00:01:37.830 Romklau housing estate after four pumps were installed. Some lower-lying areas still held 21 00:01:37.830 --> 00:01:43.110 deeper water. The nation's account of relief deliveries that same day describes boats 22 00:01:43.110 --> 00:01:47.510 bringing meals and supplies to older residents who had difficulty leaving their homes. 23 00:01:48.070 --> 00:01:53.510 Those reports show why a falling water level and a return to everyday life are different milestones. 24 00:01:54.070 --> 00:01:58.310 Shops have damaged goods, and some residents still cannot resume earning a living. 25 00:01:58.950 --> 00:02:02.950 There is also a useful engineering explanation for the slow drainage. 26 00:02:02.950 --> 00:02:08.150 Officials told Thai PBS on Friday that the Nong Bon Retention Lake can hold more than 27 00:02:08.150 --> 00:02:13.030 five million cubic meters of water, and has a tunnel leading to the Chao Phraya River. 28 00:02:13.700 --> 00:02:19.340 The bottleneck is moving water through the smaller connecting canals quickly enough. 29 00:02:19.340 --> 00:02:23.900 Authorities were using equipment to push water toward the lake, as well as pumps closer to 30 00:02:23.900 --> 00:02:26.020 flooded communities. 31 00:02:26.020 --> 00:02:31.020 Drainage depends on the whole route, from a neighborhood, to a canal, to an outlet. 32 00:02:31.020 --> 00:02:35.500 That helps explain how some streets can improve while nearby homes remain surrounded by water. 33 00:02:37.350 --> 00:02:42.190 Turning to energy prices, the group of seven countries have agreed to release 100 million 34 00:02:42.190 --> 00:02:46.310 barrels of diesel and crude oil from reserves over four months. 35 00:02:46.310 --> 00:02:51.510 ASP reporting carried by Australia's ABC describes a coordinated release through the 36 00:02:51.510 --> 00:02:56.990 International Energy Agency, with a substantial amount of diesel scheduled for the first 20 37 00:02:56.990 --> 00:02:57.990 days. 38 00:02:57.990 --> 00:03:02.510 The agreement also commits the seven countries to avoid restrictions on energy exports between 39 00:03:02.510 --> 00:03:03.710 them. 40 00:03:03.710 --> 00:03:08.230 Diesel deserves attention here, because it powers trucks, farm machinery, and other equipment 41 00:03:08.230 --> 00:03:09.630 that moves goods. 42 00:03:09.630 --> 00:03:13.410 A shortage can affect businesses well beyond the filling station. 43 00:03:13.410 --> 00:03:17.710 To put the headline number in perspective, spreading 100 million barrels evenly across 44 00:03:17.710 --> 00:03:22.190 roughly four months would mean about 800 thousand barrels a day. 45 00:03:22.190 --> 00:03:26.230 That is a simple average, the planned release puts more diesel into the market early. 46 00:03:26.400 --> 00:03:29.760 Reserves provide a temporary addition to supply. 47 00:03:29.760 --> 00:03:32.240 Their effect on prices will depend on how quickly fuel 48 00:03:32.240 --> 00:03:34.240 becomes available and whether it reaches 49 00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:36.120 the places that need it. 50 00:03:36.120 --> 00:03:39.040 The export commitment addresses another part of the problem, 51 00:03:39.040 --> 00:03:42.160 keeping available supplies moving between countries. 52 00:03:42.160 --> 00:03:44.680 For households and businesses, the intended benefit 53 00:03:44.680 --> 00:03:47.040 is relief from supply pressure. 54 00:03:47.040 --> 00:03:49.900 The size and timing of any price reduction remain uncertain. 55 00:03:51.100 --> 00:03:57.740 Now, to Myanmar, where nearly 1,500 migrants returned from Malaysia arrived on Sunday morning, 56 00:03:57.740 --> 00:04:03.580 according to AFP. Three Myanmar navy ships brought them home, and families gathered outside 57 00:04:03.580 --> 00:04:09.940 the naval base to collect relatives. Malaysia says the returnees agreed to voluntary repatriation 58 00:04:09.940 --> 00:04:15.500 from detention centers. The United Nations Refugee Agency says its staff were not allowed 59 00:04:15.500 --> 00:04:20.700 to meet them to establish whether those decisions were freely made and informed. 60 00:04:20.700 --> 00:04:25.980 That leaves a consequential gap in what can be established about consent. The UN has also 61 00:04:25.980 --> 00:04:31.800 warned that safe homecomings cannot be guaranteed amid Myanmar's civil war. Whether members 62 00:04:31.800 --> 00:04:37.300 of the Rohingya minority were among this group has not been confirmed. One grandfather interviewed 63 00:04:37.300 --> 00:04:41.740 by AFP was waiting for three grandchildren who had spent a year and a half in Malaysian 64 00:04:41.740 --> 00:04:42.260 detention. 65 00:04:42.450 --> 00:04:47.350 He expressed concern about possible conscription after their return. 66 00:04:47.350 --> 00:04:53.030 That is a family's stated worry, rather than a confirmed outcome, for the people arriving. 67 00:04:53.030 --> 00:04:57.150 Independent interviews would help establish consent, while follow-up would be needed to 68 00:04:57.150 --> 00:04:59.590 assess conditions after arrival. 69 00:04:59.590 --> 00:05:01.750 The ship's arrival is established. 70 00:05:01.750 --> 00:05:05.630 Assurances about what follows still require scrutiny. 71 00:05:05.630 --> 00:05:09.550 Follow our live desk at lulwut dot net for verified updates. 72 00:05:10.950 --> 00:05:16.110 On to history and diplomacy, with a cultural exchange between Greece and Bulgaria. 73 00:05:16.110 --> 00:05:21.470 Remains identified as those of the medieval ruler Tsar Samuel arrived in Sofia on Saturday 74 00:05:21.470 --> 00:05:27.510 and replaced in the Basilica of Saint Sophia, according to the Bulgarian news agency BTA. 75 00:05:27.510 --> 00:05:30.090 Samuel ruled around a thousand years ago. 76 00:05:30.090 --> 00:05:34.990 The remains were discovered during excavations at a basilica on an island in northern Greece, 77 00:05:34.990 --> 00:05:38.690 and had been kept in Thessaloniki's Museum of Byzantine Culture. 78 00:05:38.690 --> 00:05:43.210 The Greek newspaper Kathimerini reports that the handover follows an agreement that also 79 00:05:43.210 --> 00:05:48.510 provides for the return to Greece of nearly 50 religious relics removed to Bulgaria during 80 00:05:48.510 --> 00:05:50.510 the First World War. 81 00:05:50.510 --> 00:05:55.050 That reciprocal element gives the ceremony a practical diplomatic significance. 82 00:05:55.050 --> 00:05:59.090 Both countries have agreed to transfer historic material associated with the other. 83 00:05:59.400 --> 00:06:05.880 Samuel's legacy also remains disputed between Bulgaria and North Macedonia. A joint historical 84 00:06:05.880 --> 00:06:11.080 commission described him as ruler of a medieval state generally regarded by historians as the 85 00:06:11.080 --> 00:06:17.240 Bulgarian Empire, centered in present-day North Macedonia. Modern national interpretations remain 86 00:06:17.240 --> 00:06:23.080 contested. The exchange offers a concrete example of cooperation over cultural heritage, 87 00:06:23.080 --> 00:06:27.080 alongside historical questions that a present-day ceremony cannot resolve. 88 00:06:28.650 --> 00:06:34.330 And, before we go, to baseball, where pitching shaped Saturday's American League Division Series 89 00:06:34.330 --> 00:06:40.890 openers. Tampa Bay beat the New York Yankees 1-0. Drew Rasmussen allowed no hits until there were 90 00:06:40.890 --> 00:06:46.010 two outs in the eighth inning, when Austin Wells doubled. Rasmussen finished eight innings with 91 00:06:46.010 --> 00:06:51.850 ten strikeouts. Brian Baker handled the ninth to complete a combined one-hitter. Jonathan 92 00:06:51.850 --> 00:06:58.490 Aranda's home run supplied the game's only run. In Cleveland, the Chicago White Sox won 3-0, 93 00:06:58.490 --> 00:07:03.210 with a different arrangement. Five pitchers shared the work, allowing three hits and 94 00:07:03.210 --> 00:07:09.690 striking out 12. Munataka Murakami hit a two-run home run, and Colson Montgomery added a run-scoring 95 00:07:09.690 --> 00:07:14.570 double. Grant Taylor pitched at least four innings to finish the game and earn the save. 96 00:07:15.130 --> 00:07:19.530 For anyone who follows baseball occasionally, that contrast is worth noticing. 97 00:07:19.900 --> 00:07:22.940 Tampa Bay leaned on one starter deep into the game. 98 00:07:22.940 --> 00:07:25.140 Chicago repeatedly handed responsibility 99 00:07:25.140 --> 00:07:27.620 to another pitcher, a strategy the club had also 100 00:07:27.620 --> 00:07:30.980 used during the regular season and the previous playoff round. 101 00:07:30.980 --> 00:07:32.980 Both approaches produced shutouts, 102 00:07:32.980 --> 00:07:35.180 according to the Associated Press accounts. 103 00:07:35.180 --> 00:07:37.780 Both series are scheduled to continue on Monday, 104 00:07:37.780 --> 00:07:40.580 with Tampa Bay and Chicago each holding an opening game 105 00:07:40.580 --> 00:07:41.740 advantage. 106 00:07:41.740 --> 00:07:42.940 I'm Micah Finch. 107 00:07:42.940 --> 00:07:44.000 Thanks for listening.