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Why It’s So Important to Figure Out When a Vital Ocean Current Could Fail (Maria)
The author writes, “Deep in the Atlantic Ocean, there’s a massive current the size of 8,000 Mississippi Rivers. Its role in the Earth’s climate is so powerful that it determines weather from the equator to Europe, crop production in Africa and sea level rise on the East Coast. Scientists say there’s a risk this vital current could shut down as the climate gets hotter, a collapse that could have dire consequences worldwide. … Now, a new study finds the collapse of the current, which is known as the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation or AMOC, could happen far sooner than scientists have previously thought.”
Romney Calls on GOP Donors to Pressure Noncompetitive Trump Rivals to Drop Out (Reader Jim)
The author writes, “Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah.) called on Republican donors to urge noncompetitive GOP presidential candidates to drop out of the race by February so former President Trump cannot run against a crowded field. Opponents of Trump have consistently worried a crowded primary field could hand the contest to Trump, who has a big lead in GOP opinion polls in the primary today.”
Texas City Changes Name of Street That Honored Ku Klux Klan Official (Reader Steve)
From the Fort Bend Star: “In an emotional meeting last week, Missouri City City Council unanimously approved a measure that will make it easier for residents to petition to change street names, and separately voted to change the name of a street named after a notorious Confederate general and Ku Klux Klan official. … The Council voted to change the names of Bedford Forrest Drive and Bedford Forrest Court, two adjoining streets in the Vicksburg Village of Shiloh neighborhood, to Liberty Way Drive and Liberty Way Court.”
Republicans’ Excess Death Rate Spiked After COVID-19 Vaccines Arrived, a Study Says (Mili)
The author writes, “The pandemic inflicted higher rates of excess deaths on both Republicans and Democrats. But after COVID-19 vaccines arrived, Republican voters in Florida and Ohio died at a higher rate than their counterparts, according to a new study. Researchers from Yale University who studied the pandemic’s effects on those two states say that from the pandemic’s start in March 2020 through December 2021, ‘excess mortality was significantly higher for Republican voters than Democratic voters after COVID-19 vaccines were available to all adults, but not before.’”
Designing Drugs With AI: Israeli Nobel Winner’s Ambitious New Project (Sean)
The author writes, “[Aaron] Ciechanover, a winner of the 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and an Israel Prize laureate for biology research, tells us that ‘opposition to AI can do harm. It’s a fascinating phenomenon that we’ll have to go along with. We can’t stop it; we’ll have to learn how to use it wisely.” Ciechanover is a professor at the medical faculty of the Technion, the Haifa-based technology institute. He’s also chairman of Quris AI, an Israeli company whose Bio-AI Clinical Prediction Platform tries to predict which drug candidates will work safely in humans, skirting the huge costs of failed clinical trials. … Ciechanover says people who argue that AI should be stopped don’t understand its benefits.”
The Bioclimatic Skyscraper: Kenneth Yeang’s Eco-Design Strategies (Al)
From ArchDaily: “Rising over global cities, the modern skyscraper has long been a symbol of economic growth and environmental decline. For years, they have been reviled by environmentalists for being uncontrolled energy consumers. Malaysian architect Kenneth Yeang acknowledged the skyscraper as a necessity in modern cities and adopted a pragmatic approach to greening the otherwise unsustainable building typology. Yeang’s bioclimatic skyscrapers blend the economics of space with sustainability and improved living standards.”
Bringing Back Monarchs One Ranch at a Time (Laura)
From Sierra: “When he was growing up in the coastal California village of Bolinas in the 1980s, Ole Schell remembers, the monarchs that returned each fall to their overwintering sites seemed ‘endless.’ They clustered in the eucalyptus and pine groves around town, sometimes in swarms. … In 2016, Schell moved back to his family’s cattle ranch on the northern edge of Bolinas. That winter, he was shocked to spot only one or two butterflies. The absence was glaring.”
From 2022: The Super-Rich ‘Preppers’ Planning to Save Themselves From the Apocalypse (DonkeyHotey)
The author writes, “Tech billionaires are buying up luxurious bunkers and hiring military security to survive a societal collapse they helped create, but like everything they do, it has unintended consequences.”
