Easter Island statues, traditionally known as moai on the remote island of Rapa Nui in the South Pacific, are some of the most impressive artifacts of ancient Polynesian civilization. How the statues were transported has long remained a conundrum, because they can weigh up to several tons yet are scattered throughout the island. Various theories have been proposed, including that they were dragged on wooden sleds or rolled along the ground, but no supportive evidence has backed those claims.

In 2012, a US research team succeeded in propping up a 4.35-ton replica of a moai statue and making it “walk.” The technique, in which two teams using ropes tugged the statue in opposite directions to teeter it forward while a third team ensured it wouldn’t topple over, challenged the conventional theories that moai were moved in a horizontal position.

The question then is how much effort it would have taken to move much larger moai. “Once the moai are in motion, it’s not at all difficult,” explained Carl Lipo, an anthropologist at Binghamton University.

Lipo and his team systematically surveyed 962 moai statues on Easter Island, focusing primarily on 62 found along ancient roads. They recently published a paper providing strong evidence that moai were transported in an upright position.

The team also succeeded in moving an exact replica of roadside moai 100 meters in 40 minutes with only 18 people, a far more efficient result than those of previous experiments.

Rules of the Road

The study discovered that moai statues positioned along Rapa Nui’s roads have common characteristics. The broad D-shaped base and forward leaning design of the statues optimized the moai for “walking,” even as they increased in size. In fact, moai abandoned by the side of the road were found to have imbalanced centers of gravity and show signs of toppling over during transport.

This hypothesis is also supported by the ancient roads themselves, which are approximately 4.5 meters wide and have slightly concave cross-sections. Researchers believe these were ideal conditions to aid in stabilizing the moai as they were walked.

A statistical analysis of the distribution of moai showed 51.6 percent were concentrated within 2 km of the quarry where they originated, demonstrating an exponential decay pattern associated with mechanical failure rather than deliberate ceremonial placement. It’s likely these statues were damaged or fell over during transport and left where they lay.

A major Amazon Web Services outage disrupted scores of online platforms on Monday—leaving people around the world unable to access some banks, chatting apps, online food ordering and more.

History shows these kinds of system outages can be short-lived, and are often minor inconveniences—such as placing a lunch order in person or waiting a few hours for a gaming platform to come back online—than long-term problems, but recovery can be a bumpy road. And for people trying to move money, communicate with loved ones or work using impacted services, disruptions are especially stressful.

Consumers may not realize how many platforms they use rely on the same back-end technology. AWS is one of only a handful of major cloud service providers that businesses, governments, universities and other organizations rely on. Monday’s outage is an important reminder of that—and experts stress it’s important to diversify our online lives where we can, or even have some “old school” alternatives to turn to as a backup plan.

“Don’t put all your eggs in one digital basket,” said Lee McKnight, an associate professor at Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies, noting these kinds of outages aren’t going away anytime soon.

So what, if anything, can you do to prepare for disruptions? Here are a few tips.

Keep your money in more than one place

During Monday’s AWS disruptions, users on outage tracker Downdetector reported problems with platforms like Venmo and online broker Robinhood. Banks such as Halifax and Lloyds also said some of their services were temporarily affected, although some customers continued to report lingering issues.

Even if short-lived, outages that impact online banking and other financial services can be among the most stressful, particularly if a consumer is waiting on a paycheck, trying to pay rent, checking on investment funds or making purchases. While much of your stress will depend on the scope and length of disruptions, experts say a good rule of thumb is to park your money in multiple places.

“I’m a big fan of holding multiple accounts that can give us access, to some degree, of funds at any given time,” said Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate. This underlines the importance of having an emergency savings account, he explains, or other accounts separate from something like day-to-day checking account, for example.

Keeping some cash in a safe place is also a good idea, he adds—and emergency preparedness agencies similarly recommend having physical money on hand in case of a natural disaster or power failures. Still, it’s important to keep hoarding in moderation.

“We shouldn’t go overboard, because we can lose cash—it can be stolen or misplaced,” Hamrick said. And in terms of prudent financial practices overall, he explains, you also don’t want to have lots of money “stored under a mattress” if it could instead be earning interest in a bank.

Depending on the scope of the outage, some other options could still be available.

If digital banking apps are offline, for example, consumers may still be able to visit a branch in person, or call a representative over the phone—although wait times during widespread disruptions are often longer. And if the disruptions are tied to a third-party cloud services provider, as seen with AWS on Monday, it’s not always something a bank or other impacted business can fix on its own.

Have backup communication channels

Monday’s AWS outage also impacted some communications platforms, including social media site Snapchat and messaging app Signal.

In our ever-digitized world, people have become all the more reliant on online channels to call or chat with loved ones, communicate in the workplace and more. And while it can be easy to become accustomed to certain apps or platforms, experts note that outages serve as an important reminder to have backup plans in place.

That could take the form of simply making sure you can reach those who you speak to regularly across different apps, again depending on the scope of disruption. If broader internet and cloud services that smartphones rely on are impacted, you may need to turn to more traditional phone calls and SMS text messages.

SMS texting relies on “an older telecom infrastructure,” McKnight explains. For that reason, he notes that it’s important to have contacts for SMS texting up to date, “and not just the fancier and more fun services that we use day to day” in case of an emergency.

Meanwhile, there can also be outages that specifically impact phone services. For non-cloud service outages in the past, impacted carriers have suggested users try Wi-Fi calling on both iPhones and Android devices.

Save your work across multiple platforms—and monitor service updates

Overall, McKnight suggests “building out your own personal, multi-cloud strategy.”

For online work or projects, that could look like storing documents across multiple platforms—such as Google Drive, Dropbox and iCloud, McKnight explains. It’s important to recognize potential security risks and make sure all of your accounts are secure, he adds, but “having some diversity in how you store information” could also reduce headaches when and if certain services are disrupted.

Many businesses may also have their own workarounds or contingency plans in case the technology they use goes offline. While a wider recovery from Monday’s outage is still largely reliant on Amazon’s wider mitigation efforts, individual platforms’ social media or online status pages may have updates or details about alternative operations.

You can also check outage trackers like Downdetector to see if others are experiencing similar problems.

Even after recovery, experts also suggest checking payments, online orders and messages you may have sent during or close to the outage—in case something didn’t go through.

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Amazon Web Services (AWS) and technology group e& have unveiled plans to equip the UAE workforce with the skills needed to thrive in an AI-driven digital economy.

The nationwide “AI Nation – Afaaq” programme, announced last week at Gitex Global 2025 in Dubai, plans to train 30,000 people in artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies through e& Academy, the company’s flagship training platform.

The initiative is part of a strategic $1bn alliance between AWS and e&, announced in 2024, and represents a significant milestone in the UAE’s talent development and digital leadership journey.

According to IDC’s 2024 research, while 78% of UAE organisations prioritise AI investment, nearly half cite a shortage of AI skills as a critical barrier to large-scale implementation. By directly addressing this skills gap, AWS and e& hope to empower the next generation of technology professionals and support national objectives such as the UAE Centennial 2071 plan, which seeks to create a diversified, knowledge-based economy.

The programme will provide 30,000 sponsored AWS certification vouchers – learners will also gain free access to AWS Skill Builder, a comprehensive online platform for self-paced training, and live “cloud coach” sessions designed to prepare candidates for certification exams.

Through this combination of hands-on learning and mentorship, the programme aims to develop a highly skilled talent pool capable of driving innovation across sectors and enabling AI-enabled roles throughout the UAE economy.

“As AWS’s strategic partner, e& is proud to enable this nationwide digital skills programme through our e& Academy. By combining AWS’s global training excellence with our local expertise and established presence, we are ensuring that learners across the country have access to the tools and support needed to succeed in the era of cloud and AI. This is about building the nation’s talent base at scale so employers can hire with confidence and people can step into AI-enabled roles across every sector,” said Harrison Lung, group chief strategy officer at e&.

Madhavi Reddy, managing director for the Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey at AWS, added: “This initiative represents AWS’s deep commitment to making world-class digital skills training accessible across the UAE. By providing 30,000 learners with industry-recognised certifications in cloud and AI, we are helping to build the robust talent base required for the nation’s digital transformation journey. Our collaboration with e& Academy is crucial, enabling us to combine AWS’s global training expertise with strong local delivery, empowering a new generation of builders to turn knowledge into tangible impact for businesses and communities alike.”

Through this ambitious training effort, AWS and e& say they are investing in people to secure the UAE’s position as a global technology leader. By developing a large-scale pipeline of talent equipped with advanced skills in AI and cloud computing, the programme aims to foster innovation, attract further investment, and ensure the country’s digital-first strategy is sustained for generations to come.