BenjaminHCCarr

BenjaminHCCarr, 18 days ago to random

Life boomed on #Earth half a billion years ago. You can thank #magnets.
The near collapse of #Earth’s #magneticfield coincided with a spike in #oxygen levels and a boom in #biodiversity, according to a new study.
Gift Article: https://wapo.st/3UN6LrH

BenjaminHCCarr, 18 days ago to math

Teens come up with #trigonometry proof for #PythagoreanTheorem, a problem that stumped #math world for centuries
A #highschool teacher didn't expect a solution when she set a 2,000-year-old Pythagorean Theorem problem in front of her students. Then Calcea Johnson and Ne'Kiya Jackson stepped up to the challenge.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/teens-come-up-with-trigonometry-proof-for-pythagorean-theorem-60-minutes-transcript/

BenjaminHCCarr, 22 days ago to solar

Storing energy with #compressedair is about to have its moment of truth
Toronto-based #Hydrostor Inc. is one of the businesses developing long-duration energy storage that has moved beyond lab scale and is now focusing on building big things. The company makes systems that store energy #underground in the form of compressed air, which can be released to produce electricity for eight hours or longer.
Technology will be used to store wind and #solar energy for use later.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/05/storing-energy-with-compressed-air-is-about-to-have-its-moment-of-truth/

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BenjaminHCCarr, 22 days ago to hpc

#AlmaLinux Forms An #SIG to advance interests around high performance computing (#HPC) and artificial intelligence (#AI) for this #RHEL-derived #operatingsystem.
The leader of this new AlmaLinux SIG is #HaydenBarnes as the #OpenSource Community Manager for AI at #HPE.
https://www.phoronix.com/news/AlmaLinux-HPC-AI-SIG

BenjaminHCCarr, 22 days ago to Columbia

I’ve Covered Violent Crackdowns on #Protests for 15 Years. This #Police Overreaction Was Unhinged.
When police attacked student #protesters, a lone trash can was the only damaged property I saw around City College of New York.
Between #Columbia and #CityCollege, over 200 protesters — almost all #students — were arrested before the night was out.
Brutal policing and groundless excuses are nothing new, nor is bipartisan support for the crackdowns.
https://theintercept.com/2024/05/01/nyc-gaza-college-protests-police-outside-agitators/

BenjaminHCCarr, 24 days ago to opensource

#OpenSource world's #BrucePerens emits draft #PostOpenZeroCost License
The basic idea is companies making more than $5 million annually by using #PostOpen #software in a paid-for product would be required to pay 1 percent of their revenue back to this administrative organization, a 501(c)(6) non-profit, which would distribute the funds to the maintainers and #developers of the participating open source project(s)
https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/30/bruce_perens_post_open_license/

BenjaminHCCarr, 24 days ago to news

Negativity drives online #news consumption
Dataset comprises ~105,000 different variations of stories from Upworthy.com with ∼5.7M clicks across more than 370M impressions. Although positive words were slightly more prevalent than negative words, we found negative words in news #headlines increased consumption rates (positive words decreased consumption rates). For headline of average length, each additional negative word increased click-through rate by 2.3%.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-023-01538-4

BenjaminHCCarr, 25 days ago to hongkong

#HongKong’s new ban on #singleuseplastics
New rules, which come into force on the symbolic date on #EarthDay aim to cut down on non-biodegradable #plastics in #landfill sites. The first phase prohibits the sale and distribution of single-use plastics such as straws and cutlery, as well as styrofoam food containers. Phase two, which could start as early as 2025, will ban single-use plastic cups and boxes for takeaway services.
Here’s a visual guide to the new rules.
https://multimedia.scmp.com/infographics/news/hong-kong/article/3259438/plastic-ban/index.html

BenjaminHCCarr, 27 days ago to apple

Academics probe #Apple's #privacy settings and get lost and confused
Researchers note many studies examinedprivacy issues with 3rd-party apps for Apple devices, little literature investigates first-party apps – like Safari and Siri. Just disabling #Siri requires visits to five submenus.
They also criticize data collection by Apple apps like Safari and Siri, where data is sent, how users can (and can't) disable data tracking, and how Apple presents privacy options to users
https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/05/apple_apps_privacy_study/

BenjaminHCCarr, 28 days ago to climate

#March2024 marks yet another record in #globalheat
According to the European Union, Earth has reached its warmest March on record, capping a 10-month streak in which every month set a new temperature record
"The main driver of the warming is #fossilfuel #emissions," said Friederike Otto, #climate scientist at Imperial College London. Failure to reduce emissions will continue to drive warming of planet, resulting in more intense #drought, #fire, #heatwaves and heavy rain
https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/march-marks-yet-another-record-global-heat-2024-04-09/

BenjaminHCCarr, 1 month ago to ocean

The #Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (#AMOC) is weakening in the deep sea of the North #Atlantic #Ocean, study finds
Analysis of mooring observations and hydrographic data suggest Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation deep water limb in the #NorthAtlantic has weakened, contributing to #sealevelrise in the region. Two decades of continual observations provide a greater understanding of the #Earth’s #climate regulating system.
https://www.aoml.noaa.gov/atlantic-meridional-overturning-circulation-weakening-in-the-deep-sea-of-north-atlantic/ #climatechange #climatecrisis

BenjaminHCCarr, 1 month ago to privacy

How #GM Tricked Millions of Drivers Into Being Spied On
This #privacy reporter and her husband bought a #Chevrolet Bolt in December. Two risk-profiling companies had been getting detailed data about their driving ever since
#GeneralMotors has been selling data about the driving behavior of millions of people to #insurance companies through GM's #OnStar services plan and Smart Driver program, leading to higher premiums for some drivers, according to a recent investigation.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/23/technology/general-motors-spying-driver-data-consent.html

BenjaminHCCarr, 1 month ago to H5N1

Risk of bird #flu spreading to humans is ‘enormous concern’, says #WHO
Chief scientist voices fears about #H5N1 variant that has ‘extraordinarily high’ mortality rate in humans. #Cows and #goats joined the list of species affected last month – a surprising development for experts because they were not thought susceptible to this type of #influenza. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/18/risk-bird-flu-spreading-humans-enormous-concern-who #avianflu

BenjaminHCCarr, 1 month ago to cars

Republican #attorneysgeneral from 25 states sued #US #EPA to block rules intended to reduce planet-warming #emissions from #cars and light #trucks and encourage #electricvehicle manufacturing, arguing the agency exceeded its legal authority.
The EPA rules aim to cut fleetwide #tailpipe emissions for cars and light trucks by nearly 50% over 2026 levels in 2032, and reduce #greenhousegas emissions by 7.2 billion tons through 2055. https://www.autoblog.com/2024/04/18/gop-led-states-sue-to-block-u-s-emissions-rules-for-cars-light-trucks/ #climatechange #climatecrisis

BenjaminHCCarr, 1 month ago to internet

The invisible seafaring industry that keeps the #internet afloat

“The reason websites continue to load, bank transfers go through, and civilization persists is because of the thousand or so people living aboard 20-some ships stationed around the world, who race to fix each cable as soon as it breaks”
https://www.theverge.com/c/24070570/internet-cables-undersea-deep-repair-ships

BenjaminHCCarr, 1 month ago to random

#Ransomware gang starts leaking stolen #ChangeHealthcare data
Screenshots seen by Axios suggest hackers have stolen a trove of sensitive information, including patients' #hospital bills, financial documents and company contracts.
There's currently a countdown on RansomHub's dark-web leak site threatening to publish data on Friday.
Change Healthcare, provides billing support to #pharmacies and #insurers, has been cleaning up fallout from a ransomware attack since February.
https://www.axios.com/2024/04/16/change-healthcare-data-leak-ransomware

BenjaminHCCarr, 1 month ago to Israel

Leaked #NYTimes #Gaza Memo Tells #Journalists to Avoid Words “#Genocide,” “#EthnicCleansing,” and “Occupied Territory” when describing #Palestinian land
Amid internal battle over the NYT's coverage of #Israel’s war, top editors handed down a set of directives.
The document is presented as an outline for maintaining objective journalistic principles in reporting on the Gaza war, staffers say some of its contents show evidence of paper’s deference to Israeli narratives.
https://theintercept.com/2024/04/15/nyt-israel-gaza-genocide-palestine-coverage/

BenjaminHCCarr, 1 month ago to solar

#NewEngland to become the second #coal-free region in the #US. That’s following a settlement between #SierraClub, The Conservation Law Foundation (#CLF), #EPA, and #GraniteShorePower. Retiring #coal plant #SchillerStation, will host a #solar and battery storage system. It will be integral in supporting reliability daily during peak hours and acting as storage for the #offshorewind power now being built off the coast of #MarthasVineyard and in the #GulfofMaine. https://electrek.co/2024/03/29/new-england-second-coal-free-region-us/

BenjaminHCCarr, 1 month ago to climate

‘#Garbage Lasagna’: Dumps Are a Big Driver of #GlobalWarming, Study Says
Decades of buried #trash is releasing #methane, a powerful #greenhousegas, at higher rates than previously estimated, the researchers said. #EPA estimates that #landfills are the third largest source of human-caused methane #emissions in the #UnitedStates, emitting as much greenhouse gas as 23 million gasoline #cars driven for a year.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/28/climate/landfills-methane-emissions.html
https://archive.ph/88k7a #climatechange #climatecrisis #compost

BenjaminHCCarr, 1 month ago to random

Global Stockpile of #Cholera #Vaccine Is Gone as Outbreaks Spread
Doses of cholera vaccine are being given to patients as fast as they are produced and the global stockpile has run completely dry.
Three new vaccine makers are setting up production lines. Current maker's efforts are “heroic” to expand its production.
Yet even with all this, global supply of vaccine that will become available this year will be, at best, a quarter of what is needed. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/11/health/cholera-vaccine-shortage.html
https://archive.ph/EgL9w

BenjaminHCCarr, 1 month ago to america

#America’s mere 806 #Billionaires now control more wealth—a lot more—than the 65 million or so households that make up the poorer half of the population.
Even adjusting for inflation, billionaires have seen a 57% gain in their collective wealth since #Trump #taxcuts took effect, thats $2.9 trillion, almost all #tax-free. Extending the sunsetting provisions for another 10 years will cost taxpayers $3.3 trillion says nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/04/american-billionaires-richer-half-population-wealth-inequality/

BenjaminHCCarr, 1 month ago to Amazon

#Amazon fined in #Poland for dark pattern design tricks
Poland has fined Amazon close to $8 million for misleading consumers about the conclusion of sales contracts on its online marketplace. The sanction "also calls out the e-commerce giant for deceptive design elements which may inject a false sense of urgency into the purchasing process and mislead shoppers about elements like product availability and delivery dates"
https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/27/amazon-dark-pattern-design-fine/

BenjaminHCCarr, 1 month ago to random

'#PanamaPapers' trial starts. 27 people charged in the worldwide #moneylaundering case
Those on trial in #Panama include the owners of the #MossackFonseca law firm that was at the heart of the 2016 massive document leak
Panama Papers include a collection of 11 million secret financial documents that detail how some of the world’s #richest people hide their money
https://apnews.com/article/panama-papers-trial-money-laundering-ff16769071b2535ad3678c8099ad0e9e

BenjaminHCCarr, 1 month ago to ocean

‘Alarming’ #Ocean #Temperatures Suggest This #Hurricane Season Will Be a Daunting One
An early forecast from one set of experts sees an above-average #hurricaneseason that may rival the busiest years on record.

Gift Article: https://nyti.ms/49nd755?unlocked_article_code=1.h00.B3MX.sL5o32nYjkeu
#climatechange #climatecrisis

BenjaminHCCarr, 1 month ago to Canada

All #Orcas Are Classified as a Single Species. Should They Be?
Scientists suggest two #killerwhale populations off #Pacific Coast of #UnitedStates and #Canada are actually so different from each other — and from other orcas — that they should be considered separate #species. They have different diets: resident orcas eat fish, while igg’s orcas hunt marine mammals (seals, sea lions); and numerous behavioral, physical and genetic differences.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/26/science/orcas-species-killer-whales.html
https://archive.ph/l2Btk