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Molecular Fossils Offer First Glimpse of How Life Survived Snowball Earth (Maria)

The author writes, “Several times in Earth’s history, the planet froze over. Ice blanketed the world from pole to equator, and temperatures plummeted as low as –50°C. Somehow, life endured. Now scientists are reporting the first glimpse of this hardscrabble existence during the most recent of these Snowball Earth episodes, which occurred between 651 million and 635 million years ago. The results, presented last week at the Goldschmidt conference in Prague, come from molecular fossils, chemical biomarkers in seafloor sediments in Australia.”

Flooded Texas County Turned Down Funds for Warning System From Biden Admin in 2021: ‘We Don’t Want to Be Bought’ (Gerry)

From The Latin Times: “A Texas county devastated by deadly flooding earlier this month rejected federal funds in 2021 that could have helped install a flood warning system, with local officials and residents arguing they didn’t want to be ‘bought’ by the Biden administration. As far back as 2016, officials considered a $1 million siren and gauge system to warn both locals and the flood-prone region’s many visitors, the Texas Tribune reported. But despite multiple meetings and FEMA grant applications, funding efforts repeatedly stalled, first due to missing mitigation plans, then due to shifting priorities after Hurricane Harvey. In 2021, the Biden administration awarded Kerr County $10.2 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, which could have been used for flood prevention infrastructure. But commissioners, facing political pressure from conservative residents, opted not to pursue a warning system.”

Denmark to Tackle Deepfakes by Giving People Copyright to Their Own Features (Dana)

The author writes, “The Danish government is to clamp down on the creation and dissemination of AI-generated deepfakes by changing copyright law to ensure that everybody has the right to their own body, facial features, and voice. The Danish government said [last month] it would strengthen protection against digital imitations of people’s identities with what it believes to be the first law of its kind in Europe. Having secured broad cross-party agreement, the department of culture plans to submit a proposal to amend the current law for consultation before the summer recess and then submit the amendment in the autumn. It defines a deepfake as a very realistic digital representation of a person, including their appearance and voice.”

Missouri Governor Repeals Paid Sick Leave Law Approved Last Year by Voters (Reader Steve)

From the AP: “Eight months after voters approved it, Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe signed the repeal of a law Thursday that had guaranteed paid sick leave to workers and inflationary adjustments to the minimum wage. The move marked a major victory for the state’s largest business group and a frustrating defeat for workers’ rights advocates, who had spent years — and millions of dollars — building support for the successful ballot measure. The repeal will take effect Aug. 28. Kehoe, who also signed a package of tax breaks Thursday, described the paid sick leave law as an onerous mandate that imposed burdensome record-keeping. ‘Today, we are protecting the people who make Missouri work — families, job creators, and small business owners — by cutting taxes, rolling back overreach, and eliminating costly mandates,’ Kehoe, a Republican, said.”

The War on Inflation Is a Class War (Sean)

From Jacobin: “Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell recently warned that the United States was at risk of stagflation, a combination of high inflation and economic slowdown. When this happened in the 1970s, capitalists used the crisis to attack organized labor.”

Chinese Students Flocked to Central Illinois. Their Food Followed (Laura)

The author writes, “New York University enrolls more Chinese students than any other school in the United States. But the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is in a virtual tie for second place with the University of Southern California, according to a New York Times analysis of 2023 visa data from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Urbana and Champaign are not the only places where the surge in international students has changed the local culture and economy. But the area’s rural isolation and unusually large population of Chinese students make it a striking example of that change. In the coming months or years, they may also make it something of a laboratory for the effects of the Trump administration’s cuts to research budgets and clampdowns on visas for international students, especially those from China.”

‘LA’s Loneliest Bachelor’: How a Mateless Hollywood Puma Inspired the World’s Biggest Animal Bridge (Mili)

From the BBC: “Los Angeles is gearing up to open the largest wildlife crossing in the world. Set to open in 2026, the 165ft (51m)-longbridge will mirror the desert terrain of the nearby valley and be dotted with rocks and low shrubs to reconnect the Santa Monica Mountain range. It will allow mountain lions and other species, such as coyotes, bobcats, and deer, to roam more freely. Wildlife crossings are used globally as a way to let animals safely cross roads and highways, from migrating red crabs in Australia’s Christmas Island to ‘ecoducts’ in the Netherlands used by wild boar, badgers, and foxes. But Los Angeles’s crossing stands out not just for its magnitude, but its location: in the US’s second-largest city, often considered the birthplace of the country’s modern highway system.”