"If solar flares and storms seem to be occurring more frequently, like the impressive flare on February 15 (also captured by Solar Orbiter) or the solar storm that impacted SpaceX's Starlink satellites, it's because the sun is ramping up activity as it heads toward solar maximum… It's important to understand the solar cycle because space weather caused by the sun -- eruptions like solar flares and coronal mass ejection events -- can impact the power grid, satellites, GPS, airlines, rockets and astronauts in space."
"Fifty years ago, astronauts on one of NASA's Apollo missions hammered a pair of tubes 14 inches long into the surface of the moon. Once the tubes were filled with rocks and soil, the astronauts — Eugene Cernan and Harrison 'Jack' Schmitt — vacuum-sealed one of the tubes, while the other was put in a normal, unsealed container. Both were brought back to Earth."
"Researchers at Yale and the American Museum of Natural History have identified the earliest known relative of octopuses and vampire squid — and named it after the 46th president of the United States… Syllipsimopodi bideni had 10 arms, fins, and rows of suckers to grasp prey. It lived 328 million years ago and represents a new species of vampyropod, the group of marine animals that includes modern octopuses and vampire squid."
"Over a century after it sank to the depths of the Weddell Sea off the coast of Antarctica, the lost ship of Anglo-Irish explorer Ernest Shackleton, has been found… In 1915 the Endurance was trapped by dense pack ice, forcing Shackleton and his crew to make a stunning escape."
"An expert group convened by the World Health Organization said Tuesday it “strongly supports urgent and broad access” to booster doses of COVID-19 vaccine amid the global spread of omicron, capping a reversal of the U.N. agency’s repeated insistence last year that boosters weren't necessary for healthy people and contributed to vaccine inequity."
"As climate change drives conversation about energy efficiency, General Motors and Pacific Gas & Electric are planning to test the use of electric vehicles as a backup power source for homes… The pilot, which comes as car companies are funneling money into battery-powered cars, aims to test the home-powering idea by this summer. The program will take place in the electric company's service area, which includes Northern and Central California, and aims to support the state's goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions."
"The federal grand jury in Midland charged Odessa-based Aghorn Operating Inc. and Aghorn Vice President Trent Day with violating federal clean air laws and obstructing a federal job safety investigation, according to a Justice Department statement Tuesday."
Why we can't have nice things… "'A lot of refineries, especially in the Gulf Coast, made a very expensive bet to invest in this equipment that would allow them to save money on input costs by processing, you know, lower-quality crude,' said Richard Sweeney, an assistant professor of economics at Boston College… Then came the fracking boom. Fracking produces light, sweet crude that can’t be refined with that equipment."
"The Polish government stunned Washington on Tuesday by announcing it was ready to transfer its 28 MiG-29 fighter planes to the U.S., with the understanding that they would be handed over to Ukrainian pilots fighting off the Russian invasion… The move, which came with a request that the U.S. supply Poland with used jets with 'corresponding capabilities,' came after a week of back-and-forth negotiations between Washington and Warsaw over transferring the jets to Ukraine, which needs replacement jets to fight off the Russians."
"CIA Director William Burns said Tuesday that Russia's invasion of Ukraine has fallen far short of Vladimir Putin's expectations and that he believes the Russian president is likely to escalate military operations… 'I think Putin is angry and frustrated right now. He's likely to double down and try to grind down the Ukrainian military with no regard for civilian casualties,' Burns testified before the House Intelligence Committee. 'His military planning and assumptions were based on a quick, decisive victory.'"
"More than 2 million Ukrainians have fled their country in the 12 days since Russia began its invasion, according to a tracker from the U.N. refugee agency… It took a single week for the number of refugees to reach 1 million, on Thursday. That number has increased exponentially, as Russian forces have amped up their shelling of critical and civilian infrastructure."
"Ukraine said on Wednesday there was a danger of a radiation leak at the Chernobyl nuclear power station after electricity was cut off to the plant, but the U.N. nuclear watchdog saw 'no critical impact on security'… State-run nuclear company Energoatom said a high-voltage power line had been damaged during fighting between Ukrainian troops and Russian forces who are occupying the defunct plant, and that it had been cut off from the national power grid."
"It's 9:15 a.m. and Bryan Stern is waiting outside a Kyiv hospital. The sound of shelling in the distance forces him and his team to hurry. They need to get two premature babies into an ambulance and out of the besieged Ukrainian capital… This is Operation Gemini, named for the American twins he has been tasked with evacuating… Across the border in Poland, their father, Alex Spektor, is waiting to meet his babies, who were born via a surrogate. His voice is thick with emotion and fatigue as he relays the latest over the phone."
"World-famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma made a personal stand with Ukraine on Monday, setting up his instrument on the sidewalk outside of the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C., next to an improvised street sign reading, 'Zelensky Way.'"
"The House of Representatives is expected to vote Wednesday to pass a massive $1.5 trillion government spending bill that will fund a wide range of priorities, including delivering desperately needed aid to Ukraine and additional money to fight Covid-19… Lawmakers are under pressure to pass the 2,741-page bill ahead of a Friday deadline when government funding is set to expire in order to avert a shutdown. The House is slated to move first to approve the sweeping legislation before sending it to the Senate."
"The Wisconsin senator Ron Johnson said Republicans should try again to repeal the Affordable Care Act if they take back power – then retreated, under fire from the Biden administration… 'For example, if we’re going to repeal and replace Obamacare – I still think we need to fix our healthcare system – we need to have the plan ahead of time so that once we get in office, we can implement it immediately, not knock around like we did last time and fail.'" Note, Johnson didn't even outline a plan that could replace Obamacare.
"A Texas man accused of allegedly bringing a semiautomatic pistol to the January 6 attack on the Capitol, interfering with police, and then telling his children that 'traitors get shot' when they wanted to turn him into authorities, was found guilty Tuesday on all charges. The jury took less than four hours to deliberate in the first January 6 case to go to trial."
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