146961374
submission
hcs_$reboot writes:
Earth Is Barreling Toward 1.5 Degrees Celsius Of Warming, Scientists Warn. The average temperature on Earth is now consistently 1 degree Celsius hotter than it was in the late 1800s, and that temperature will keep rising toward the critical 1.5-degree Celsius benchmark over the next five years, according to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization. The new report from the WMO, an agency of the United Nations, finds that global temperatures are accelerating toward 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming. The authors of the new report predict there is a 44% chance that the average annual temperature on Earth will temporarily hit 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming at some point in the next five years. That likelihood has doubled since last year. Recent climate disasters underscore the extent to which a couple degrees of warming can have enormous effects. For example, during the last ice age the Earth was only about 6 degrees Celsius colder than it is now, on average. An increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius "is a very, very, very, very big number", a scientist says.
145928226
submission
hcs_$reboot writes:
Japan extended a state of emergency in Tokyo and other regions until the end of May to contain a surge of coronavirus cases, casting further doubt on the country’s ability to safely host the Summer Olympics, which are scheduled to begin in 11 weeks. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga made the announcement at a meeting of the government’s coronavirus task force, saying that the measures were necessary because infections remain at a “high level, mainly in large cities.” Japan, which has recorded more than 620,000 infections and 10,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic, has controlled the virus better than many countries. But the government has faced criticism for the sluggish pace of vaccinations, and for pledging to go ahead with the Tokyo Olympics, scheduled to begin on July 23, despite widespread public opposition.
142199784
submission
hcs_$reboot writes:
Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Corporation and three of its popular anchors are the targets of a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit filed on Thursday by Smartmatic, a company that became a prominent subject of discredited theories about widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election. In its 276-page complaint, Smartmatic argues that Mr. Giuliani and Ms. Powell “created a story about Smartmatic” and that “Fox joined the conspiracy to defame and disparage Smartmatic and its election technology and software.” Smartmatic, which provided services for the 2020 election in only one county, filed its suit in the tense aftermath of a vote that Mr. Trump and his supporters have repeatedly and falsely described as rigged or stolen.
Asked for comment, Powell said in a statement, "I have not received notice or a copy of this alleged lawsuit. However, your characterization of the claims shows that this is just another political maneuver motivated by the radical left that has no basis in fact or law."
140134886
submission
hcs_$reboot writes:
President Donald Trump is said to be in denial about his election loss and has told some of his advisors he won't leave the White House on Inauguration Day. It's been nearly six weeks since President-elect Joe Biden's victory became clear, and Trump has still not acknowledged his loss. Trump continues to push a claim that Biden stole the election through widespread voter fraud, a theory that even his own outgoing attorney general recently said was not supported by evidence. People close to him told the outlet they thought it was highly unlikely that he would go.
140104962
submission
hcs_$reboot writes:
Paris city hall has been fined 90,000 euros ($109,408) for having appointed too many women to top positions in 2018, in breach of a law aimed at ensuring gender balance. Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo mocked the fine as "unfair" and "absurd" on Tuesday during a meeting of the city council. The rule, which was created in 2013, stated that no more than 60 percent of new appointments to management positions in public service should go to one sex. In 2018, 11 women and 5 men were appointed to top positions in the Paris city hall, leading the Civil Service Ministry to impose the fine.
140059850
submission
hcs_$reboot writes:
Should The Electoral College Be Abolished?
139913658
submission
hcs_$reboot writes:
Fragments of energy – not waves or particles – may be the fundamental building blocks of the universe. Matter is what makes up the universe, but what makes up matter? Using newer mathematical tools, a team of physicists have demonstrated a new theory that may accurately describe the universe. Instead of basing the theory on the warping of space and time, they considered that there could be a building block that is more fundamental than the particle and the wave. Scientists understand that particles and waves are existential opposites: A particle is a source of matter that exists at a single point, and waves exist everywhere except at the points that create them. They thought it made logical sense for there to be an underlying connection between them.
Their initial work demonstrated how a new building block is capable of accurately modeling bodies from the enormous to the minuscule. Where particles and waves break down, the fragment of energy building block held strong. The fragment could be a single potentially universal building block from which to model reality mathematically – and update the way people think about the building blocks of the universe.
139045918
submission
hcs_$reboot writes:
Scotland has passed a bill that has made period products such as tampons and pads free to all who need them, and becomes the first country in the world to make period products free. The Period Products Bill, which passed unanimously, requires local authorities to ensure that period products are generally obtainable free of charge. Schools and colleges must ensure period products are freely available to students, and designated public places must also make the products available. The debate over the bill spurred what was at times a remarkable public discussion of issues rarely spoken about in government chambers. Members of the Scottish Parliament discussed endometriosis and heavy bleeding, why toilet paper and bins for menstrual products are required in restrooms but not menstrual products themselves, and the wide base of support the legislation had drawn from men as well as women.
A BBC video is also available.
138851932
submission
hcs_$reboot writes:
The experimental drug given to Trump to treat Covid-19 wins FDA clearance. The Food and Drug Administration on Saturday granted emergency authorization to the experimental antibody treatment given to President Trump last month when he developed Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. President Donald Trump received the therapy, called REGEN-COV2, when he was hospitalized for coronavirus. The treatment has to be infused into the bloodstream and is meant to mimic an immune response to infection. Regeneron’s drug is a cocktail of two monoclonal antibodies, called casirivimab and imdevimab. The FDA said in authorizing the cocktail that it may be effective in treating mild to moderate covid-19 in adults and children 12 or older, and is indicated for those at high risk of developing severe illness. The cocktail has not been authorized for use in patients who are hospitalized with Covid-19 or need oxygen therapy because of Covid-19.
Trump administration officials at the recent coronavirus task force briefing promised to distribute the treatment fairly and swiftly, basing distribution on a strategy similar to what is used for remdesivir, an antiviral drug for hospitalized patients. The administration’s rollout of remdesivir was plagued by problems in its early phases, including sending doses to hospitals with no eligible patients, but officials said they had learned from those mistakes.
137424906
submission
hcs_$reboot writes:
Japan reportedly decides to release treated Fukushima water into the sea. Japan will release more than a million tons of treated radioactive water from the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea in a decades-long operation, reports said Friday, despite strong opposition from environmentalists, local fishermen and farmers. The release of the water, which has been filtered to reduce radioactivity, is likely to start in 2022 at the earliest. The decision ends years of debate over how to dispose of the liquid that includes water used to cool the power station after it was hit by a massive tsunami in 2011. A government panel said earlier this year that releasing the water into the sea or evaporating it were both "realistic options."
The treated water is currently kept in a thousand huge tanks at the Fukushima Daiichi site, where reactors went into meltdown nearly a decade ago after the earthquake-triggered tsunami.
Plant operator TEPCO is building more tanks, but all will be full by mid-2022.
137137944
submission
hcs_$reboot writes:
Twitter slapped a warning label on Trump's tweet claiming he's immune from coronavirus and no longer contagious. Twitter on Sunday added a warning label to a tweet from President Donald Trump, who tested positive for the coronavirus and claimed he is no longer contagious. Trump tweeted on Sunday that he received a "total and complete sign off from White House Doctors yesterday." The tweet contains "misleading and potentially harmful information related to COVID-19," the Twitter label says. It remains accessible because "Twitter has determined that it may be in the public's interest."
136834286
submission
hcs_$reboot writes:
You can preorder a $100 'Trump defeats COVID' commemorative coin at White House Gift Shop. Coins commemorating President Donald Trump surviving COVID-19 are already available for preorder at an online gift shop.
The $100 “Trump defeats COVID” coins are for sale on the website of the White House Gift Shop, which is not affiliated with the White House.
The coin is part of a series designed by Anthony Giannini, chairman of the White House Gift Shop. He described the COVID-19 coin as the last in a series illustrating "President Trump's ascendance over and defeat of the deadly COVID pandemic virus."
135698364
submission
hcs_$reboot writes:
The enormous size of a prehistoric mega-shark made famous in Hollywood films has been revealed for the first time in its entirety by a UK study. Researchers used mathematical methods and comparisons with living relatives to find the overall size of the megalodon, which lived from about 23m to 3m years ago. The results suggest a 16-metre megalodon is likely to have had a head about 4.65 metres long, a dorsal fin 1.62 metres tall and a tail 3.85 metres long. This means an adult human could stand on the back of the shark and be about the same height as the dorsal fin. The great white shark – depicted in the 1975 movie hit Jaws – is a distant descendant of the megalodon and often measures more than 6 metres in length.
134468423
submission
hcs_$reboot writes:
An Air India plane crashed in Kerala after skidding off the runway and breaking into two while landing at Kozhikode Calicut International Airport. The plane, which is a Boeing 737, had 190 people on board, according to India's Ministry of Civil Aviation. It was made up of 174 passengers, as well as 10 infants, two pilots and four cabin crew. A video was made available by The Guardian. No fire was reported at the time of landing. At least 16 people have been killed and 15 are critically injured.
134064811
submission
hcs_$reboot writes:
Donald Trump has called for November's presidential election to be postponed, saying increased postal voting could lead to fraud and inaccurate results. He suggested a delay until people can "properly, securely and safely" vote. There is little evidence to support Mr Trump's claims but he has long railed against mail-in voting which he has said would be susceptible to fraud, the BBC reports. In a tweet, Mr Trump said "universal mail-in voting" would make November's vote the "most inaccurate and fraudulent election in history" and a "great embarrassment to the USA".
