Markie Post, and so it goes.
"In a preprint posted online Thursday night, researchers at Google in collaboration with physicists at Stanford, Princeton and other universities say that they have used Google’s quantum computer to demonstrate a genuine 'time crystal.' In addition, a separate research group claimed earlier this month to have created a time crystal in a diamond."
"A fearsome beast with wings spanning 22 feet. A mouth like a spear. The closest thing we've seen to a real-life dragon… That's how Tim Richards describes the Thapunngaka shawi, a flying reptile whose fossils he's been studying at the University of Queensland's School of Biological Sciences. The pterosaur is believed to have once flown above the Australian outback -- long enough ago that it was soaring above inland seas rather than desert."
"Data sent to Earth by NASA’s Perseverance rover after its first attempt to collect a rock sample on Mars and seal it in a sample tube indicate that no rock was collected during the initial sampling activity." Oopsie.
"Governments and businesses hoping to plant trees and restore forests in order to reach net-zero emissions must sharply limit such efforts to avoid driving up food prices in the developing world, the charity Oxfam has warned… Planting trees has been mooted as one of the key ways of tackling the climate crisis, but the amount of land needed for such forests would be vast, and planting even a fraction of the area needed to offset global greenhouse gas emissions would encroach on the land needed for crops to feed a growing population…"
"More than 100 large wildfires are burning across nearly 2.3 million acres of the U.S. West, as forecasters warn Americans to brace for another extreme heat wave this week."
"Raging wildfires have ripped through parts of Greece for six straight days, forcing thousands to flee as the blazes threatened entire towns and burned down homes, shops and vast areas of land in their path… An unprecedented heatwave — Greece’s worst in three decades — sent temperatures soaring over the past week as firefighters worked tirelessly to extinguish the uncontrollable flames." There had been video from some of the islands as ferries came on to beaches to evacuate people.
"Greece has been tackling devastating wildfires for seven days in different parts of the country amid the most severe heatwave in three decades."
"Lawmakers and top climate officials in President Joe Biden's administration sounded the alarm on Monday in response to a new report from the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, urging nations to swiftly limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius."
"Global climate change is accelerating and human-caused emissions of greenhouse gases are the overwhelming cause, according to a landmark report released Monday by the United Nations. There is still time to avoid catastrophic warming this century, but only if countries around the world stop burning fossil fuels as quickly as possible, the authors warn… The message to world leaders is more dire, and more unequivocal, than ever before." We're boned.
"The U.S. government has not approved booster shots against the virus, saying it has yet to see evidence they are necessary. But Welch and an untold number of other Americans have managed to get them by taking advantage of the nation’s vaccine surplus and loose tracking of those who have been fully vaccinated."
"As the coronavirus pandemic continues, infections caused by the Lambda variant have been emerging in the United States, including in Texas, where Houston Methodist Hospital last month reported its first case." So earlier, when I mentioned the lambda variant as a likely candidate for major breakthrough infections and being more vaccine resistant, I wasn't being prescient, I nearly chose a greek letter after Delta and knowing the virus (any virus) given the opportunity will mutate to continue infecting people.
"The US is averaging more than 100,000 new daily Covid-19 cases each day, the highest in nearly six months, according to data from Johns Hopkins University… And the surge, largely among unvaccinated people, has been fueled by the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus." While I'm not a virologist or in charge of these things, the decrease in overall cases at the beginning of the summer means that this is actually the second surge of the virus.
"Florida hospitals slammed with COVID-19 patients are suspending elective surgeries and putting beds in conference rooms, an auditorium and a cafeteria. As of midweek, Mississippi had just six open intensive care beds in the entire state."
"In recent weeks, DeSantis has veered further to the right by reiterating his disdain for Covid-19 restriction measures. He held a secret meeting with anti-mask medical professionals, signed an executive order that gives parents the final decision on whether their children will wear masks in school and promised to cut off state funding to any school district that forces children to put on face coverings… DeSantis’ threat to shut off state funding hasn’t stopped some school districts from bucking his ultimatum." That includes, according to reports elsewhere, the school where DeSantis sends his kids. They have a mandatory masking rule.
"The Covid surge is also stacking upon an unseasonable spike in respiratory illnesses among children typically seen only in winter. That has shrunk the bed space further in children's hospitals and expanded on the unrelenting demand on doctors and nurses."
"Norwegian Cruise Line can require passengers show proof of a COVID-19 vaccination before boarding any of its ships in Florida, a federal judge has ruled… The decision by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams in Miami to grant Norwegian's request for a preliminary injunction comes despite a state law passed in May that fines businesses which require proof of such vaccinations."
"Call center workers at Cigna, one of the largest health insurance corporations in the US, are reporting poor working conditions driven by high production demands, fear of being fired, lack of training, and long processing times for customers to receive reimbursement for Covid-19 testing costs."
"The Biden administration is hoping to attract tens of thousands of international students who stayed away from U.S. campuses during the pandemic. Foreign enrollment plummeted by 20% last year costing nearly $10 billion dollars in lost revenue. Though some students are starting to return, recovery might not be so easy. Even before the pandemic, international students were already turning away from the U.S."
"Ayear has passed since Belarusians took to the streets to challenge the authoritarian leader, Alexander Lukashenko, over stolen elections, marking the greatest crisis of his 27 years in power and the most harrowing year in the country’s modern history."
There's two recent On the Media shows you should listen to: "This week, we consider whether information should ever be off-limits to journalists. It’s a thorny ethical question raised by FBI informants, hacked sources and shockingly intimate personal data. Plus, why a conservative Catholic publication’s outing of a gay priest has garnered criticism from all sides." There's an interesting exploration on the presence and the function of FBI informants and a discussion of the "honey pot"/entrapment aspect. The counter argument is: the actions are clearly illegal and the plot take several weeks to unfold. So there's plenty of time for these people to have regrets and/or go to the authorities themselves.
"With Delta Variant cases surging, public health officials are pleading with Americans to get vaccinated ASAP. This week, we examine at how some journalists are turning anti-vaxxer deaths into COVID-19 fables. Plus, we hear from the reporter who tracked down Jeffrey Epstein’s victims." With a good segment on the history of the death-bed conversion stories for healthcare reporting. Hint, it's a meme.
"These attacks on Team USA are not just culture war red meat; they are a reflection of a rising tendency in the conservative movement to reject America itself. In this thinking, the country is so corrupted that it is no longer a source of pride or even worthy of respect. In its most radical versions, you even see cheerleading for revolution or civil war." The right's "patriotism" has always been a facade.
"Senate Democrats released a $3.5 trillion budget on Monday morning that doesn't tackle the imminent need to raise the debt ceiling, setting the stage for a dramatic standoff with Republicans this fall… The exclusion of debt limit language amounts to a political gamble by President Joe Biden's party, with the Treasury Department expected to run dry on its borrowing limit in the coming weeks. Senate Republicans have already warned that they won't give Democrats the votes needed to approach the issue on a bipartisan basis, which means that the debt limit's omission from the budget tees up a future cross-aisle fight over the debt." Hello shut down.
"A widely criticized Republican-led review of the 2020 general election in Arizona's largest county appears to be nearing the finish line… The examination in Maricopa County, which was ordered by GOP state senators, began in late April and has lasted weeks longer than anticipated."
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