#Mosquito-Borne #Disease ‘#TripleE’ Is Spreading in #US as Temperatures Rise
#EasternEquineEncephalitis (#EEE) cases have been reported in five states this year, including a fatal case in New Hampshire last month. Rare mosquito-borne illness, which has no known cure, kills 30-40% of those infected and often causes permanent neurological damage in survivors. EEE is becoming more common in #NorthAmerica as #climatechange expands habitats of insects.
https://www.wired.com/story/the-mosquito-borne-disease-triple-e-is-spreading-in-the-us-as-temperatures-rise/
https://archive.ph/OQJ4k

#US #birthrate hits new low, #CDC data shows
Between 2007 and 2022, the U.S. birth rate fell by nearly 23 percent, according to CDC data. There were 3,596,017 registered births in 2023, about 2 percent fewer than in 2022, when there were 3,667,758 registered births, according to CDC data.
The general fertility rate fell by nearly 3 percent last year to 54.5 births per 1,000 women between the ages of 15 and 44.
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/4837169-us-birth-rate-drop-2022-2023/

Scientists solved mysterious origin of #Stonehenge’s #AltarStone: #Scotland
“Our analysis found specific mineral grains in the Altar Stone are mostly between 1,000 to 2,000 million years old, while other minerals are around 450 million years old,” said co-author Anthony Clarke. “This provides a distinct chemical fingerprint suggesting the stone came from rocks in the Orcadian Basin, Scotland, at least 750 kilometers [450 miles] away from Stonehenge."
https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/08/study-stonehenges-central-altar-stone-actually-hails-from-scotland/

#NATO believes #Russia poses a threat to the West’s #Internet and #GPS services
If destroyed, there's no solid backup for oceanic #fiberoptic networks.
Analysts believe Russia is mapping #undersea cables that transfer data between continents. Officials speculate they may have already carried out attacks on #telecommunications and GPS on a smaller scale. NATO thinks Russia may have plans in place to target those networks in retribution for the West’s support for #Ukraine.
https://www.tomshardware.com/service-providers/network-providers/nato-believes-russia-poses-a-threat-to-the-wests-internet-and-gps-services

Dev repurposes #Kindle as a portable #EInk monitor — provides instructions for the #jailbreak
The screen currently runs up to 4 FPS, but the developer says it would be easy to hit double figures.
https://www.tomshardware.com/monitors/portable-monitors/dev-repurposes-kindle-as-a-portable-e-ink-monitor

The #climate is changing so fast that we haven’t seen how bad #extremeweather could get
Rapid #climatechange means we haven't experienced extremes modern-day #atmospheric and oceanic warmth produce. In stable climate, scientists would have decades of extreme events, such as #heatwaves, #floods, or #droughts. We could use these observations to build up understanding of what the climate is capable of. But in our rapidly changing climate, we effectively have only a few years
https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/07/the-climate-is-changing-so-fast-that-we-havent-seen-how-bad-extreme-weather-could-get/

#GIMP3.0 Enters String Freeze, Inching Closer To Release
Today marks the beginning of the string freeze for the long-awaited #GNU Image Manipulation Program 3.0 #opensource image editor release as one of the leading free software alternatives to Adobe #Photoshop.
#GIMP 3.0 has been more than one decade in the making as the port from GTK2 to #GTK3, also transitioning away from Python 2 to #Python3 support, and a wealth of other improvements.
https://www.phoronix.com/news/GIMP-3.0-String-Freeze

#California’s grid passed the reliability test this #heatwave. It’s all about giant batteries
#CAISO last issued calls for voluntary conservation two years ago, during a 2022 bout of #extremeheat. Since then, roughly 11,600MW of new #renewableenergy sources have come onto California's #electricity grid. That includes 10,000MW of battery power, enough to power 10 million homes for a few hours. California is now home to the most grid batteries in the world outside of China.
https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article290009339.html

Heavy-lift #drones are flying cargo to #offshorewind turbines
#Danish #renewables giant #Ørsted is deploying heavy-lift #cargodrones for the first time in an operational campaign at a #Dutch #offshore #windfarm.
Heavy-lift cargo drone transport cargo from a vessel to all 94 #windturbines at the 752MW Borssele 1 & 2 offshore wind farm.
Ørsted is using 70 kg drones – with a wingspan of 2.6 meters – to transport cargo weighing up to 100 kg, in an actual operations campaign.
https://electrek.co/2024/08/07/heavy-lift-cargo-drones-offshore-wind-farm/

'Tremendous' #NASA Video Shows #CO2 Spewing From #US Into Earth's #Atmosphere

The visualization shows CO2 pouring out from major cities in the U.S., before being blown into swirling eddies by atmospheric currents. https://www.newsweek.com/nasa-video-carbon-dioxide-co2-emissions-1929622

Here's What We Know About #Kamala's #Climate Plan
Vice President #KamalaHarris has been aggressive on #climatechange for years.
Heatmap News broke down just how much #Harris has done for the# climate and why climate activists are excited to have her potentially leading the democratic ticket come November

Why Climate World Loves Kamala
https://heatmap.news/politics/kamala-harris-climate-record

Inside the 'Nightmare' #Health Crisis of a #Texas #Bitcoin Town
In order to cool the machines, operators attached thousands of #fans to the containers, which churned constantly, emitting a vicious buzz. As more machines were switched on, #noise sounded like a ceiling fan, then a leaf blower, then a jet engine. It consumed afternoon dog walks and revved through cloudless nights, vibrating trailer homes of many of the low-income residents who live blocks from the facility.
https://time.com/6982015/bitcoin-mining-texas-health/

German #robots hunting #sea for #WW2 #bombs
More than 1.6 million tonnes of unexploded weapons litter #NorthSea and #BalticSea. Remote-controlled robots with "smart grabbers" are now cleaning up these toxic munitions. Although clearing and mapping dump sites are a standard part of #undersea cabling and #offshorewind turbines, no large-scale effort has so far been undertaken to remove them, even as they continue to pose an increasing hazard to people and the environment.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240621-the-robots-hunting-ww2-bombs-in-the-sea

#Whataburger app becomes unlikely #poweroutage map after #HurricaneBeryl passes through Houston
https://techcrunch.com/2024/07/09/whataburger-app-becomes-unlikely-power-outage-map-after-houston-hurricane/
#hurricane #hurricanes #WaffleHouse #WaffleHouseIndex

#Hybrid working from home improves retention without damaging performance https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07500-2

There we now have an article to point to, in NATURE no less, that Hybrid, #Remote, and #WFH improve morale and retention without damaging the company's performance!

What’s the Difference Between #Mastodon, #Bluesky, and #Threads?
Two major ecosystems have emerged in the wake of #twitter, both encouraging the variety and experimentation of the earlier web. The first, built on #ActivityPub protocol, is called the #Fediverse. While it includes many different kinds of websites, Mastodon and Threads have taken off as alternatives for Twitter that use this protocol. The other is the AT Protocol, powering the Twitter alternative Bluesky.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/06/whats-difference-between-mastodon-bluesky-and-threads

Shopping app #Temu is “dangerous #malware,” spying on your texts, #lawsuit claims
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin alleged in a lawsuit citing research and media reports exposing Temu's allegedly nefarious design, which "purposely" allows Temu to "gain unrestricted access to a user's phone operating system, including, but not limited to, a user's camera, specific location, contacts, text messages, documents, and other applications."
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/06/shopping-app-temu-is-dangerous-malware-spying-on-your-texts-lawsuit-claims/ #privacy #surveillance #china

#KillerWhales Attacked Almost 700 #Boats Because They’re Bored #Teenagers
More than 37 #orca have now been recorded attacking 673 boats in the Strait of #Gibraltar, attacking everything from #yachts to #fishing boats, and it might just be because they’re bored. According to a group of multinational orca experts, the behavior isn’t a case of the orcas out to attack boats, and is instead a means of bored teenage #orcas looking for a way to entertain themselves.
https://jalopnik.com/killer-whales-attacked-almost-700-boats-because-they-re-1851534654

#BirdFlu Is Infecting #Cats (and the Occasional #Dog). Here’s What to Know.
A few “reasonable precautions” can help people keep #pets safe from the #H5N1. Since the dairy #outbreak was first detected in late March, at least 21 cats in nine states have caught the virus, according to the Agriculture Department, which recently began tracking the #feline cases. “Domestic cats are actually highly susceptible to avian #influenza, and especially H5N1"
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/17/health/bird-flu-cats-dogs-h5n1.html
https://archive.ph/apue4

#Dinosaurs needed to be cold enough that being #warmblooded mattered
Researchers now think dinosaurs that already had some cold tolerance evolved #endothermy, or warm-bloodedness, to adapt when they migrated to regions with cooler temperatures, many dinosaurs from these groups are thought to have been feathered. Feathers can be used to both trap and release heat, allowing dinosaurs to regulate their body temperature in more diverse climates. Birds use feathers same way.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/05/when-warm-blooded-dinosaurs-first-roamed-the-earth/