California Faces Decade of ‘Unique’ Wildfire Blackouts
November 22nd, 2019Via: Reuters:
California utility PG&E Corp has imposed 10 intentional blackouts this year to reduce risks its power infrastructure could spark wildfires and said they will continue for a decade.
PG&E initially said outages would happen only a couple of times a year, but millions of Californians were hit by four massive shutdowns in October alone.
The outages started in June, growing in duration and scale, with the largest in state history occurring on Oct. 26, cutting electricity to around 2.8 million people over five days.
With six of the 10 most destructive fires in California history started by electrical equipment or power lines, PG&E says shutdowns are a needed measure during windstorms. The state’s largest utility filed for bankruptcy in January, citing $30 billion in civil liabilities from blazes, and says it cannot afford further penalties.
The company’s critics say Californians are paying for PG&E’s failure to upgrade infrastructure and want to see the company “harden” power systems, rather than close them down.
Has the United States ever seen anything like this?
Energy experts say the scale of California’s shutdowns appear unprecedented in the United States, where intentional outages usually occur at a power plant threatened by a hurricane or in a localized area ahead of a storm.
“It’s kind of unique to California,” said Glenn McGrath of the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Putin: Scientists Died Trying To Create Weapon That ‘Has No Equal In The World’
November 22nd, 2019It’s a missile with a nuclear propulsion system: 9M730 Burevestnik/Skyfall
Via: Daily Mail:
Russian President Vladimir Putin has told widows of the five scientists who died in a nuclear explosion earlier this year that their husbands were working on ‘the most advanced and unmatched technical’ weaponry.
Putin’s comments came during a ceremony of state decorations at the Kremlin today where he awarded the deceased employees of Russia’s state nuclear company with the Order of Courage, posthumously.
…
On August 8, five employees of the Russia’s nuclear company, Rosatom, were blown up while testing a nuclear rocket propulsion system at the Nyonoska testing site in the White Sea. The blast caused a brief radiation spike in the nearby city of Severodvinsk.
Putin said that they made ‘an indispensable contribution to the strengthening of the Russian state.’
He expressed his condolences to the widowed but maintained that Russia would go on developing this type of advanced weaponry.
Tesla Unveils Cybertruck: Electric Pickup with Range Up to 500 Miles, Stainless Steel Body, Starting Price of $39,900
November 21st, 2019Update: Tesla Already Received 146,000 Cybertruck Pre-Orders Worth Over $8 Billion
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Update: Tesla Cybertruck Will Have Solar Roof Option to Add 15 Miles of Range Per Day
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Will people ignore how weird it looks in order to get specs that no other truck has?
Probably.
Via: Electrek:
After months of hype, Tesla has finally unveiled its Cybertruck electric pickup truck today in Los Angeles. The vehicle features up to 500 miles of range, a starting price of just $39,900 and much more.
…
Three versions of the Tesla Cybertruck are going to be available with different battery packs and drivetrain configurations.
The single motor RWD version will offer 250 miles of range.
A dual motor all-wheel-drive version will reach 300 miles of range and a tri-motor version will have 500 miles of range…
GM Announces Electric Pickup, Hours Ahead of Tesla’s Pickup Announcement
November 21st, 2019Via: Electrek:
Speaking at an investor conference today, GM CEO Mary Barra said that the company’s first electric pickup truck will “go on sale” in “the fall of 2021.”
She said that she sees demand for electric pickup trucks:
“General Motors understands truck buyers and… people who are new coming into the truck market,”
The CEO made the announcement the same day that Tesla is unveiling its own electric pickup truck.
GM has been feeling pressure to electrify its pickup trucks, which represents most of its sales and its most profitable segment.
Its biggest competitor, Ford, already announced plans to launch an electric Ford F150 pickup.
Furthermore, Ford has also invested in Rivian, an EV startup that is bringing to market its own electric pickup truck, the Rivian R1T, next year.
Giving Government Vast Snooping Authority Is One Thing Democrats and Republicans Both Like
November 20th, 2019“Have fun with that.” haha Exactly.
Via: Reason:
Are you thoroughly invested in the impeachment drama? Do you thrill to the clash of good guys and villains in the ring of democracy, with the fate of the republic as the prize?
Have fun with that. There’s a good case to be made that all this political heat and light is little more than professional wrestling for flabby people. If Democrats really feared Donald Trump’s exercise of the powers of the presidency, why would they propose extending the surveillance powers of the controversial Patriot Act?
Buried on the next-to-last page of the Continuing Appropriations Act, meant to keep the government’s lights on and dated yesterday, is the following language:
Section 102(b)(1) of the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 (50 U.S.C. 101805 note) is amended by striking “December 15, 2019” and inserting “March 15, 2020”.
This relatively innocuous language pushes back the sunset provision of the Patriot Act by three months, leaving its vast powers in the hands of a president who Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden charges with “failure to uphold basic democratic principles,” who House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has accused of “alarming connections and conduct with Russia” and, joined by Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer, says is making an attempt to “shred the Constitution.”
Many Democrats flat-out call Trump a “traitor.”
If you take those comments seriously, that’s a hell of a guy to trust with the powers granted by the Patriot Act. And frightening powers they are.
Millennials Seeing Health Decline Faster Than Gen X
November 20th, 2019More vaccines.
More profits generated from the victims seeking treatments from the people who poisoned them in the first place.
Mission accomplished.
Via: Yahoo Finance:
The declining health of the millennial generation could have a serious impact on the U.S. health care system, according to experts.
“Millennials are seeing their health decline faster than the previous generation as they age,” a Moody’s Analytics report analyzing Blue Cross Blue Shield Health Index data stated. “Without intervention, millennials could feasibly see mortality rates climb up by more than 40% compared to Gen-Xers at the same age.” (Pew Research defines millennials as Americans born between 1981 and 1996.)
These declines will lead to greater demand for treatment, which could have a serious financial impact on the cost of health care.
Association Between History of Dental Amalgam Fillings and Risk of Parkinson’s Disease
November 20th, 2019Via: PubMed:
The patients exposed to dental amalgam fillings were 1.583 times more likely to have PD afterward compared to their non-exposed counterparts after adjusting for comorbidities and CCI scores.
Neural Correlates of the DMT Experience Assessed with Multivariate EEG
November 20th, 2019Via: Nature:
N, N, Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is a naturally-occurring serotonergic psychedelic capable of producing experiences that, in intensity, surpass those associated with standard doses of most orally administered psychedelics and indeed most other categories of psychoactive drugs. The subjective effects of intravenous DMT have a rapid onset and are characterized by unusually vivid visual imagery and somatic effects, which arise within seconds of the injection. At high doses, the experience rapidly progresses into a deep and profound immersion – sometimes described as a ‘breakthrough’. This experience is often characterized by a sense of entering into an entirely ‘other’ but no less ‘real’ world or dimension. It is not uncommon for people to describe encounters with sentient ‘entities’ or ‘presences’ within this perceived other world and for the experience to subsequently challenge beliefs about the nature of reality and consciousness.
NATO Intends to Make Space an ‘Operational Domain’
November 20th, 2019Via: Bloomberg:
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization plans to widen its remit to include outer space as the alliance anticipates new security threats.
NATO intends to make space an “operational domain” along with air, land, sea and cyber, according to Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
The move, to be approved at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers on Wednesday, would bring all five areas within the scope of the alliance’s collective-defense commitment and comes as member countries seek to address fresh internal political splits.
“Space is of great importance for our civilian societies and for any military operation,” Stoltenberg told reporters Tuesday in Brussels. “It’s about communications, it’s about navigation, it’s about data imagery. Space is essential for almost everything we do.”
‘Insect Apocalypse’ Poses Risk to All Life on Earth, Conservationists Warn
November 20th, 2019Via: Guardian:
The planet is at the start of a sixth mass extinction in its history, with huge losses already reported in larger animals that are easier to study. But insects are by far the most varied and abundant animals, outweighing humanity by 17 times.
Insect population collapses have been reported in Germany and Puerto Rico, and the first global scientific review, published in February, said widespread declines threaten a “catastrophic collapse of nature’s ecosystems”.
Insects can be helped to recover by “rewilding” urban gardens and parks, Goulson said. “There is potential for a huge network of insect-friendly habitats right across the country. Already a lot of people are buying into the idea that they can make their gardens more wildlife friendly by letting go of control a bit. There are also quite a lot of councils going pesticide free.”
But he said: “The bigger challenge is farming – 70% of Britain is farmland. No matter how many gardens we make wildlife friendly, if 70% of the countryside remains largely hostile to life, then we are not going to turn around insect decline.”
