By Victoria Allen Science Editor For The Daily Mail

Published: 19:01 EDT, 19 September 2023 | Updated: 19:01 EDT, 19 September 2023

By Martin Beckford, Policy Editor

Published: 20:48 EDT, 8 September 2023 | Updated: 20:58 EDT, 8 September 2023

President Joe Biden touched down in Kahului on the island of Maui Monday where he greeted local politicians with hugs, handshakes and condolences in light of the island’s devastating wildfires. 

He and First Lady Jill paused their summer vacation at Lake Tahoe in Nevada on Monday to visit Hawaii.

The president appeared more somber in tone than when he told a reporter he had ‘no comment’ on the inferno’s devastation while relaxing at his Delaware beach house last Sunday.

Biden was met with some protests from local residents who held signs with messages like ‘he’s too late,’ ‘he should’ve been here much earlier,’ and ‘actions speak louder than words.’ 

The death toll in Maui has topped 114 – already making the inferno one of the nation’s deadliest in history – and an estimated 1,000 people are still unaccounted for. Officials are still analyzing the factors that contributed to the massive inferno, including problems with its electrical grid.

Biden will visit with those who lost homes and loved ones during the disaster and be briefed by public officials. The White house said he has continued to receive briefings over the weekend, after Biden issued a series of public statements on the disaster following his early stumbles.

The president left behind a more tranquil setting – he is renting the home of billionaire former presidential candidate and climate activist Tom Steyer on the eastern side of Lake Tahoe.

He has been accompanied on that vacation by his son Hunter, who has been dealing with the collapse of his plea deal on tax charges, and whose probe is now being overseen by U.S. attorney David Weiss in the role of special prosecutor. 

After taking criticism for his ‘no comment’ while at the beach, Biden has been making repeated references to the tragedy. 

He spoke at Camp David about financial contributions by Japan and South Korea announced at the summit, then boarded Marine One to make his way to Nevada.

‘I want to start by expressing my appreciation for the contribution that your countries have made for relief following the devastating wildfires in Hawaii. I want to thank you both on behalf of the American people,’ he said. Biden also said FEMA was preparing for the arrival of Hurricane Hilary in Southern California.

On Thursday he promised to offer assistance to Maui for ‘as long as it takes’  during a recorded message that aired on ABC’s ‘Good Morning America.’

‘The entire nation is with you as you recover, rebuild and grieve,’ he said. 

The wildfire that broke out August 8 in the town of Lahaina is now the deadliest in more than a century, and the fifth-deadliest on record for the U.S. 

‘We’ll be with you for as long as it takes, I promise you,’ the president added. He noted the federal government has already taken action to send hundreds of emergency personnel and thousands of meals and supplies to the historic tourist town ravaged by flames. 

Before Biden announced his visit, Republicans compared his lack of a visit to East Palestine, Ohio – where a train derailed and spilled toxic chemicals, displacing 100s. Biden had promised to visit the Ohio town but never did. 

Former President Donald Trump and other Republicans tore into him. Trump said he was refusing ‘to help or comment on the tragedy’ and called the moment ‘horrible and unacceptable.’

Biden first issued his ‘no comment’ while while staying at the beach near his Delaware home.

Then while breezing by reporters he made a terse comment, saying he was ‘looking at it.’ 

Back at the White House, a reporter asked Biden at the White House: ‘Can you tell us about your Hawaii trip?’ 

‘No, not now,’ Biden said, before staff eventually announced details.

It call came during a time when Biden might have preferred some distance form the press, following the appointment of the special counsel for his son. 

Biden and the first lady are traveling to Maui on Monday to comfort survivors of the devastating wildfires that ripped through the western part of the Hawaiian island earlier this month, as his administration responds to the devastation whose full scope is still unknown.

The Bidens are taking a detour from their weeklong vacation in the Lake Tahoe area for the day trip to Lahaina, a historic town of 13,000 people that was virtually destroyed by the flames. While there, the first couple will meet with first responders and be briefed by state and local officials about the ongoing response.

They will also view the damaged town, both from helicopters and on the ground, and the Democratic president will deliver remarks paying tribute to the victims of the wildfires, which have killed more than 100 people since they began on Aug. 8.

The president will also tap Bob Fenton, a regional leader at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as chief federal response coordinator for the Maui wildfires, ensuring that someone from his administration will be responsible for long-term recovery efforts. It will take years to rebuild Lahaina, where just about every building was obliterated.

‘I know how profoundly loss can impact a family and a community and I know nothing can replace the loss of life,’ Biden said in a statement ahead of the trip. ‘I will do everything in my power to help Maui recover and rebuild from this tragedy. And throughout our efforts, we are focused on respecting sacred lands, cultures, and traditions.’

Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said that as of Sunday about 85% of the affected area had been searched and nearly 2,000 people remained without power and 10,000 were without telecom connectivity. Water in parts of west Maui is not safe to drink.

While immediate aid such as water, food and blankets has been readily distributed to residents, Schatz said that cellphones, identification and other documents that people would need to help them enroll in longer-term aid programs were burned in the fires, adding more challenges to the application process.

More than 1,000 federal officials remain on the ground in Hawaii to respond to the wildfires, according to the White House. The administration has doled out more than $8 million in aid to affected families.

Schatz, who will be with Biden as the president travels to his home state on Monday, stressed that officials were ‘still responding to the disaster’ and ‘We are not yet in a recovery phase.’

‘As bad as this looks, it´s actually worse,’ he said in a phone interview on Sunday. ‘What you can´t see is the damage to utility infrastructure. What you can´t see is the thousands of kids who are trying to figure out how to go to school this fall. What you can´t see is the first responders who went into the flames without regard for their own safety and had their own homes burned down.’

While vacationing in Lake Tahoe, Biden has been on the phone regularly with officials to get briefed on updates to the wildfire response, the White House said.

•  Parents said they take an average of 23 photos of their child a week

By Victoria Allen Science Editor

Published: 20:03 EDT, 18 August 2023 | Updated: 20:18 EDT, 18 August 2023

‘Tech neck’ is plaguing the world, as people are straining their bones and muscles by looking down at screens for too long – but a survey finds Americans fare the worst.

Wellness experts analyzed Google searches for ‘tech neck’ and ‘fix bad posture,’ finding both were higher in the US, followed by Australia and Canada.

Research shows that the average American spends more than five hours scrolling and even more time staring at screens daily, leading to repeated strain on the bones and muscle stiffness.

A wellness and posture expert has revealed quick fixes to elevate the pain and poor posture, such as yoga moves like the Standing Forward Bend and Warrior II Pose.

Tech neck can feel like the world’s weight is on your shoulders because, in a way, it is.

The average adult head weighs 10-12 pounds, and tipping it forward at a 45-degree angle to stare at a smartphone increases the force on the neck by almost 50 pounds. 

The New York-Presbyterian Hospital defines ‘tech neck’ as ‘the fallout from spending too much time looking down at phones or tablets, or holding your head too far forward to look at a computer screen’, which can cause ‘soreness, stiffness, and even injury’.

And although it seems easy to avoid, ‘tech neck’ poses numerous long-term side effects. It can cause headaches, numbness in your hands, and even permanent spine changes.

This is because spending hours hovering over your phone can cause your neck muscles to lengthen and your chest muscles to shorten, increasing the pressure on your upper spine.

The new survey, commissioned by ISSA Yoga, found searches for ‘soar neck’ increased by nearly 30 per cent in the US over the last month. 

Ireland ranked fourth among tech neck sufferers, followed by Malta, Singapore and the UK.

Finland, Norway and Cyprus ranked at the bottom of the top 10. 

‘Just as some people fall ill once they stop working before a holiday, others will realize that rushing to meet last-minute deadlines before the summer sun hits has had a detrimental effect on their posture, resulting in lower neck and upper back pain,’ said Erika Weiss, a wellness and posture expert at ISSA Yoga.

‘This is particularly true for people who spend long periods at their desk without interruption or those who work remotely and are therefore less inclined to take restorative breaks.’

Weiss stressed the importance of an ergonomic setup when using devices.

‘One of the easiest ways to reduce discomfort caused by bad posture is to raise your devices so that they’re on eye level,’ she said.

‘Try to be conscious of how straight you sit, and if you feel yourself start to slump when concentrating or struggling to read, try to catch yourself and take a break if you can. 

‘Avoid rolling your shoulders forward or outstretching your neck to look at your screen.’

The same protocol should also be used post-work when unwinding, playing video games, or watching television.

Another way to relieve tech neck is through yoga, as it stretches and relaxes the muscles that become tense during the day.

Weiss suggested the best moves are low-impact that bend the spine without adding stress.

However, the wellness expert warns yoga newbies against rushing into exercises.  

‘Many follow the most common or most popular routines without considering their suitability, which can exacerbate back issues and cause more soreness,’ she said.

‘Unless you’re experienced, it’s best to stick to the following moves that can alleviate neck and upper back pain – but make sure you don’t push yourself too much at the start.

‘Some moves you may want to try include the Standing Forward Bend (starting in the Raised Hands Pose), the Warrior II Pose, and the Extended Triangle Pose.’

SOCIETY 

A Short History Of The World In 50 Lies by Natasha Tidd (Michael O’Mara £12.99, 288pp) 

Author Natasha Tidd tells us of the medieval chronicler, Gerald of Wales, who claimed he knew a man on whom tiny devils appeared every time he was confronted with lies.

Well, Gerald’s devils would be kept busy through any reading of Tidd’s lively survey of 2,000 years of outrageous untruths. She ranges from Julius Caesar’s claim that victims of a massacre in Gaul were not killed by his troops but committed mass suicide, to the evasions surrounding the nuclear accident at Chernobyl in 1986.

Not all the lies Tidd examines were life-threatening. Some were simply hoaxes. It’s hard to see much harm in the 1835 newspaper reports, published in the New York Sun, that the famous astronomer and inventor Sir John Herschel, using a giant telescope, had discovered ‘a whole society of sophisticated beings’ on the Moon. They were, he said, half-men, half-bats, and had built great temples and mammoth monuments.

If anything, the story added to the gaiety of nations, although Tidd argues that the Sun’s journalists had invented a new genre — fake news.

Earlier legends also gained traction because, as Tidd admits, ‘Sometimes in history, it doesn’t matter if a story is a lie, if that story is entertaining’.

She is referring to the myth that a 9th-century pontiff, later to be known as Pope Joan, gave birth in a crowded Roman street. She was thus inarguably revealed as a cross-dressing Englishwoman.

Her words could equally apply to the 14th-century book Travels Of Sir John Mandeville, which describes its author’s visits to ‘fantastical lands where griffins fly … and men have hooves for feet and heads for torsos’. Most of it was nonsense, of course, and the likelihood is there was no such person as Sir John Mandeville. However, it was widely read for centuries. Even Christopher Columbus used it as a reference work.

Not many of the 50 lies in Tidd’s book provided such harmless entertainment. The most dangerous resulted in huge loss of life. The Malleus Maleficarum (Hammer Of Witches) was a book by Heinrich Kramer, a 15th-century German priest with a reputation for embezzlement and theft, and a paranoid belief that witches were everywhere. It became a witch- hunter’s bible and, Tidd argues, played a part in the deaths of 50,000 supposed witches, mainly women.

Equally malevolent in its impact was the lie known as the ‘blood libel’ — the idea that Christian children were killed by Jews, and their blood used in sacrificial rituals. Tidd focuses on the case of two-year-old Simon of Trent (now Trento in Italy) who was found dead in 1475. He probably drowned accidentally, but the city authorities decided he was a victim of ritual murder. Jews were tortured into confessions and burned at the stake.

The case of Simon of Trent was still being quoted as an example of supposed Jewish infamy by Nazi propagandists in the 1930s.

Jews have all too often been the target of malign lies. The Protocols Of The Elders Of Zion, first published in 1903, purports to reveal an international Jewish plot to achieve world domination.

It is, of course, a forgery. Tidd calls it ‘a Frankenstein compilation of … anti-Semitic greatest hits’, but, as she continues, ‘Just because something is fake doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous’. It has initiated pogroms, contributed to the racial theories behind the Holocaust and is still quoted by far-Right groups today.

‘It would not be an understatement,’ Tidd writes, ‘to say that millions of people have died thanks to its contents.’ It would be comforting to think that history’s lies have grown less prevalent in the modern era but, as the Protocols shows, this is not the case. It’s no accident that nearly a third of Tidd’s book covers the 20th century. From British World War I propaganda, depicting the Germans as ‘one vast gang of Jack the Rippers’ indulging in ‘wild orgies of blood and debauchery’, to the attempted American cover-up of the My Lai massacre of unarmed civilians during the Vietnam War, the lies keep on coming.

The Dreyfus Affair divided France in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Alfred Dreyfus, an entirely innocent Jewish military officer, was convicted of espionage and condemned for life to the prison on Devil’s Island.

The evidence against him was a pack of lies. In his defence, the novelist Emile Zola wrote, ‘The truth is on the march and nothing will stop it’.

In this instance, Zola was right. The verdict against Dreyfus was eventually overturned. He was released and pardoned. However, A Short History Of The World In 50 Lies shows that the march of truth isn’t always unstoppable. Lies have their own power and momentum.