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In Vietnam, Farmers Cut Methane Emissions by Changing How They Grow Rice (Maria)
The author writes, “There is one thing that distinguishes 60-year-old Vo Van Van’s rice fields from a mosaic of thousands of other emerald fields across Long An province in southern Vietnam’s Mekong Delta: It isn’t entirely flooded. That and the giant drone, its wingspan similar to that of an eagle, chuffing high above as it rains organic fertilizer onto the knee-high rice seedlings billowing below. Using less water and using a drone to fertilize are new techniques that Van is trying and Vietnam hopes will help solve a paradox at the heart of growing rice: The finicky crop isn’t just vulnerable to climate change but also contributes uniquely to it.”
Abortion and the 2024 Election: There Is No Easy Way Out for Republicans (Gerry)
From The Brookings Institution: “Since 2022, when the Supreme Court eviscerated Roe in the Dobbs case, we have been undergoing a reluctant national seminar in obstetrics and gynecology. All over the country, legislators — mostly male — are discovering that pregnancy is not simple. Pregnancies go wrong for many reasons, and when they do, the fetus needs to be removed. One of the first to discover this reality was Republican State Representative Neal Collins of South Carolina. He was brought to tears by the story of a South Carolina woman whose water broke just after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Obstetrics lesson #1 — a fetus can’t live after the water breaks. But ‘lawyers advised doctors that they could not remove the fetus, despite that being the recommended medical course of action.’ And so, the woman was sent home to miscarry on her own, putting her at risk of losing her uterus and/or getting blood poisoning.”
Oklahoma County GOP Chair Arrested in Alleged Murder-Kidnap Plot (DonkeyHotey)
The author writes, “Tiffany Adams, an Oklahoma resident who last year was elected as the chairwoman of Cimarron County Republican Party, was arrested this week and charged with three other people of participating in kidnapping and murder. Local news station KOCO reports that Adams was charged with participating in the kidnapping and murder of 27-year-old Veronica Butler and 39-year-old Jilian Kelley, who both disappeared a little over two weeks ago. According to local news station KSN, Butler was involved in a custody dispute with the 54-year-old Adams, who was the paternal grandmother of Butler’s children.”
NASA Chief Warns China Is Masking Military Presence in Space With Civilian Programs (Sean)
The author writes, “The head of NASA has warned of China bolstering its space capabilities by using civilian programs to mask military objectives, cautioning that Washington must remain vigilant. ‘China has made extraordinary strides especially in the last 10 years, but they are very, very secretive,’ NASA administrator Bill Nelson told lawmakers on Capitol Hill.”
City-Country Mortality Gap Widens Amid Persistent Holes in Rural Health Care Access (Dana)
From KFF Health News: “The health disparities between rural and urban Americans have long been documented, but a recent report from the Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service found the chasm has grown in recent decades. In their examination, USDA researchers found rural Americans from the ages of 25 to 54 die from natural causes, like chronic diseases and cancer, at wildly higher rates than the same age group living in urban areas. The analysis did not include external causes of death, such as suicide or accidental overdose.”
Amazon Is Filled With Garbage eBooks. Here’s How They Get Made. (Reader Jim)
From Vox: “It’s so difficult for most authors to make a living from their writing that we sometimes lose track of how much money there is to be made from books, if only we could save costs on the laborious, time-consuming process of writing them. The internet, though, has always been a safe harbor for those with plans to innovate that pesky writing part out of the actual book publishing. On the internet, it’s possible to copy text from one platform and paste it into another seamlessly, to share text files, to build vast databases of stolen books. … Now, generative AI has made it possible to create cover images, outlines, and even text at the click of a button.”
Death Valley Is Alive This Year. A Super Bloom Is the Latest Sign. (Laura)
The authors write, “Sometimes the desert holds its secrets close, whispering them only to those who carefully listen. But this year, the hottest and driest place in America might as well be shouting. In California’s Death Valley region, the last few months have been remarkably loud. And the latest bellow is still ringing out, with the area’s native wildflowers bursting into bloom. The flowers have filled a place best known for its shades of browns and grays with brilliant blasts of yellow and purple and sprinkles of pink and cream.”
