Security, anti-hate expert urge Trudeau to use caution with campaign 'mobs'

Wed., September 8, 2021,



OTTAWA — The time has come for Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau to start taking the protests dogging his campaign a little more seriously, a security expert and a member of an anti-hate group say.

While they don't think the threat has reached the level where he needs an American-style secret service bubble to protect him, they say the rising displays of anger dictate that he takes more precautions.

Trudeau's campaign has been repeatedly stalked by vocal groups of protesters — he has called them "anti-vaxxermobs" — that have shouted racist and misogynist slurs at his security detail while hurling obscenities and, in some cases, death threats at the Liberal leader.

The seriousness of the disruptions escalated noticeably on Monday when dozens of protesters, some carrying signs criticizing COVID-19 vaccines and lockdowns, surrounded Trudeau's campaign bus in London, Ont., and threw a handful of gravel at him.

The RCMP declined to comment on what extra precautions they might be talking, beyond saying they constantly review their safety measures.

But a retired RCMP officer who served in the protection details of former prime ministers says Trudeau needs to reconsider the political gain of doing such events, because the next time he could face something more dangerous than gravel.

"Next time, maybe it'll be something harder, or pointier or hotter, and these things have a tendency to ramp up, particularly when you're dealing with people now who are under this long-term stress of having been locked up due to COVID," says Mathers, the founder of an international security consultancy.

"We all have friends that we thought were normal, and we see now that they're perhaps not so much. And these are the kinds of people that are coming out."

Mathers' previous protection assignments included serving on the security detail of Brian Mulroney in the 1980s when the then-prime minister sparked angry protests by showing friendship to American president Ronald Reagan. Mathers was in the Quebec City hotel when the two leaders sang "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" as angry protesters slammed metal barricades outside.

Mathers dismisses some pundits who have opined that Canada needs to adopt a harder security line akin to the U.S. Secret Service. He says comparing the protection requirements of an American president to a Canadian prime minister is "apples to oranges."

Mathers says he knows his ex-colleagues are taking the threats extremely seriously today and are dealing with a client — Trudeau — who is also heeding their advice quite closely.

"My friends who protect the PM did say one thing about him — he always stays in the box, which is in the square of bodyguards, unlike some of the other prime ministers," Mathers says.

Evan Balgord, the executive director of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, says it is possible that some of those following Trudeau could be fantasizing about using violence against their perceived enemies.

PM TRUDEAU HATED EVEN THEN BY THE RIGHT

In their view, those would include Trudeau and public health officials who they blame for the COVID-19 lockdowns,he adds.

Balgord says the groups that have been stalking Trudeau's campaign across the country are organized and believe in conspiracy theories around COVID-19 pandemic.

"I am actually a little bit surprised that more precautions haven't been taken by the prime minister's entourage in particular, to try to keep him safe," Balgord said.

"An unstable person in that environment might take it upon themselves to act out on everybody's shared fantasy of killing the prime minister."

Balgord describes the groups that have been protesting against Trudeau as a "violent insurrectionist movement" that doesn't believe in democracy or in science.

Although the anti-lockdowns movement is "loose" and includes many who are not members of hate groups, it still contains many extreme far-right groups, he says.

He says these groups are organizing their protests in chats groups that his organization monitors on Facebook and Telegram, which allows far-right activists to try to further radicalize those who believe in COVID-19 conspiracy theories. He says they are spreading racist and anti-LGBTQ messages.

Mathers says Trudeau's security detail is also trying to track hostile movements in cyberspace, but the challenges there are growing as more people turn to encrypted apps to cover their tracks.

But he also says the protesters are not as sophisticated as some fear, noting they are getting their information from social media.

"Some people fall victim to their more basic desires, and urges," he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 8, 2021.

Mike Blanchfield and Maan Alhmidi, The Canadian Press

Fact check: have GHG emissions risen under Trudeau?
Wed., September 8, 2021

Have emissions gone up in Trudeau's tenure as Prime Minister, as the NDP says? 

(Eddy Kennedy/CBC - image credit)

The NDP attacked Justin Trudeau and the Liberals' record on climate change Tuesday, asserting that in spite of big promises, the Grits have failed to lower greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in Canada.

Trudeau and Singh traded barbs Tuesday on the campaign trail over plans to address climate change and lower emissions.

"In 2016, Justin Trudeau ratified the Paris Agreement with a commitment to reduce emissions to 30% below 2005 levels by 2030. He promised 'an ambitious plan to reduce emissions,'" the NDP said in a news release.

"Since then, Canada's emissions have only grown – faster than any other G7 nation."

In signing the Paris Climate Agreement, the government initially committed to lowering emissions to 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. The Liberal government has since adopted a more ambitious target of 40 to 45 per cent by 2030.

But have emissions gone up since that agreement was signed in 2016, which was also the first full year of Justin Trudeau's Liberal government?

With climate change a top issue for many voters this election, CBC decided to fact-check that charge.

What goes up may come down

Strictly speaking, the NDP's statement is true when looking at the official data currently available.

In 2016, Canada's GHG emissions were 707 megatonnes (Mt) of carbon dioxide equivalent, according to government data. In 2019, the most recent year data are available, that number was 730. Emissions rose slightly from 2018 to 2019 from 728 to 730.

But there are some important nuances to the issue, experts say. The lack of data for 2020, for example, may help the NDP's point.

"It's good that they didn't include 2020, because with COVID of course there were lots of dramatic changes to activity and thus also to emissions," said Felix Pretis, an assistant professor of economics at the University of Victoria and co-director of the Climate Econometrics Research Project.

Canada's greenhouse gas emissions since 1990

Kathryn Harrison, a professor of political science at the University of British Columbia who studies climate politics, agrees.

"It is very likely that they fell from 2019 to 2020, because of economic contraction during the pandemic — but we don't have that data yet."

It's important to note that GHG emissions have mostly levelled off since the turn of the millennium after rising steadily throughout the nineties.

One might conclude, based on the veracity of the NDP's claim, that the Trudeau government's policies on climate change aren't effective at reducing emissions. But both Pretis and Harrison say that's not necessarily the case.

Pretis cites the introduction of carbon pricing as an example, which came into effect in 2019.

"We wouldn't expect to see a change in emissions in the same year," he said. "When you put this sort of mechanism in place, a pricing mechanism, it takes a couple of years until we really see a change."

"This past performance of 2016 to 2019 is not necessarily indicative of future performance."

He adds that as the price on carbon goes up — the party plans to raise it to $170 per tonne by 2030 — the policy will have even more of an impact.

CBC

Harrison says it's a policy "lag" the NDP could expect to see with many of its own pledges on fighting climate change.

She also points out that the Liberals have never promised that GHG emission reductions would be linear — that a drop would start in 2016 and continue all the way until reaching the Paris Agreement target in 2030. The Liberals, in other words, may still be able to claim that their plan to reduce emissions and combat climate change is ambitious and on track.

"When you're on an upward trajectory, policies that are working may initially only level off emissions," Harrison said.

"It would be interesting to see how Mr. Singh's government would deliver immediate reductions.".

Pretis adds that while Canada has seen a small rise in absolute emissions from 2016 to 2019, emissions per capita have been roughly flat.

Most of the growth, the two experts say, is because of changes in transportation and oil and gas extraction.

Comparing Canada

The NDP may have good reason to single out Canada within the G7.

Many European countries have seen emissions fall in the past few years, an accomplishment Canada cannot claim. The UK saw GHG emissions drop 2.8 per cent in 2019 compared with the previous year.

"They introduced climate legislation much earlier," Pretis said. "So we have the UK Climate Change Act, which came into effect in the late 2000s, that really started biting a couple of years after that."

The European Union, Harrison says, deserves particular praise in this area. It saw a 3.7 per cent decline in GHG emissions from 2018 to 2019.

"The EU has really led in ambitious climate policies," she said.

The U.S. has seen a decline in emissions since 2005, but not because of a determined government plan — it's largely because coal has become less economical as a power source.

Harrison notes that Canada's population growth may be contributing to its comparatively poor performance in lowering emissions. Canada's population has grown more quickly than Germany's over the past two decades, for example.

While both experts say there are caveats to the NDP's criticism, they still say it's important that Canada lower emissions and not just keep them steady.

"It's important to be forward looking," Pretis said.

"We will need high levels of carbon pricing in order to see a substantial change in emissions, and that's ultimately where we have to get to if we want to reach net zero, which is something that we should all be doing."

Fact check: True.

How rising tennis star Leylah Fernandez overcame pushback en route to U.S. Open


Wed., September 8, 2021,

As a young girl, Leylah Fernandez first dreamed of becoming a soccer player, just like her father. But he had other ideas.

"I don't believe a child should go into a sport because her parents are in it," Jorge Fernandez said. "I want it to belong to her."

A little more than a decade after picking up a racquet, Fernandez, 19, has convincingly laid claim to tennis, preparing to compete in the U.S. Open semifinals, the most important match of her career to date.

She took New York by storm and by surprise, defeating defending champion Naomi Osaka and former world No. 1 Angelique Kerber — but Montrealers who know her from her childhood say it was a long time coming.

The rising tennis star had to overcome pushback on her home turf long before getting her shot at a match in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Leylah Fernandez/Instagram

Fernandez, center, and her family moved from Quebec to Florida to help her career. (Leylah Fernandez/Instagram - image credit)

As a budding tennis player, she learned the sting of rejection early in her career when Tennis Quebec's development program dropped her when she was only seven years old.

"When she found out, she was really heartbroken," Jorge said, holding back tears.

"Some kids get disappointed and then they're off to the next new toy, but she felt it."

Since then, Jorge has coached his daughter, despite not having any previous tennis experience.

Early on, he entertained the possibility of her wanting to quit after a couple of years, but she never did.

Love-Star Alexis, a high school friend of Fernandez at École secondaire Antoine de Saint-Exupéry who used to practise with her on the tennis courts, says she knew her former classmate always had the potential to become a superstar.

Alexis said she remembers Fernandez spending at least three hours a day on the courts, repeating the same shots over and over with her father, and devoting an additional hour to fitness training.

Submitted by Love-Star Alexis

"A lot of people don't put in that much work and also manage school," Alexis said. "I remember people would say 'Oh my God, she's so crazy for training so much, it's not going to lead anywhere,' but she proved the exact opposite."

Her former high school classmate Kylian Mairesse says the reserved Fernandez often missed class for competitions, but her fellow students celebrated her victories — if they found out about them.

"She wasn't someone who ever bragged about winning," he said.

To close friends, Alexis said, Fernandez is "really talkative and really funny" but also "always focused."

Sylvain Bruneau, head of Women's Pro and Transition Tennis for Tennis Canada, said he recalls Fernandez's sheer determination to succeed, even at age 11.

"She's not a big player, but she has a huge heart and huge determination," he said.

"I was really impressed, even then, with her ability to take the ball so early … [and] just the way she was able to focus for 90 minutes non-stop."

"In the tennis world these days, the girls are extremely big and very tall and strong, and she's a little different."

Bruneau said Fernandez's agility and, above all, her mental strength compensate for her "schoolgirl" stature, adding that her success in the game would popularize tennis among young women.

"I think she shows everybody, if you really want it bad and you're willing to do whatever it takes, everything is possible," Bruneau said.

Despite her newfound fame, her father says coming from a "two-car and mortgage" home keeps Fernandez grounded.

But he, like those who knew her as she worked to greatness, also understood that Fernandez's determination would take her places.

"It's expected. We trained so hard," he said.

"It was just a matter of waiting for it to transition to the big stage."

Submitted by Love-Star Alexis

As some countries welcome Afghanistan's refugees, others want to keep them out

Thu., September 9, 2021

Afghan refugees are shown at a Red Cross camp in Avezzano, Italy, on Aug. 31. 

(Andrew Medichini/The Associated Press - image credit)

As pictures of desperation were beamed from Kabul's airport last month, showing thousands of Afghans trying to escape the Taliban and get out however they could, French President Emmanuel Macron went on national TV.

France, he said, needs to "protect itself from a wave of migrants" heading for Europe, declining to say, for now, if it will take more Afghan refugees.

In another corner of the European Union, Croatian President Zoran Milanović declared "all of them should find their place in the United States."

"It's no longer 2015," he said, referring to Europe's last refugee crisis, when 1.3 million people sought asylum there — led by a wave of those fleeing the war in Syria, but which also included many Afghans.

A smaller but steady flow of Afghan migrants has continued ever since, as fighting persisted in the country, then accelerated as the U.S. announced it was preparing to leave after 20 years of conflict.

Last year, well over three million Afghans found their way abroad.

Top 20 countries that took in Afghan refugees in 2020

While Afghanistan's latest humanitarian emergency grows, the UN's refugee agency, UNHCR, says "our own monitoring is not confirming any kind of large movements of population outside of Afghanistan."

It's a different story inside the country of 39 million. UNHCR estimates some 570,000 Afghans have left their homes since the start of the year, gravitating to larger cities like Kabul. Around 80 per cent of these internally displaced people are women and children, according to the UN agency.

Some of them may make it out of Afghanistan eventually, but there are few international commercial flights and land crossings are unpredictable and sometimes dangerous.

CBC

With options limited, few refugees reach Western borders, said UNHCR Canada spokewoman Melanie Gallant in an interview.

At this point, "it's not really a crisis" for Europe or the United States, she said, nor does the UNHCR expect it to become one.

Instead, it's neighbouring countries who are bearing the brunt of Afghanistan's flow of refugees.

The UNHCR is planning for up to 500,000 people in Pakistan, Iran and other nearby countries, though Gallant estimates the actual numbers haven't approached that yet, as Afghans who want to flee may not have the means or the necessary visas to leave.

K.M. Chaudary/The Associated Press

Last month, immediately after Kabul fell, more than 100,000 people were hastily airlifted out of Afghanistan by the U.S. military and its coalition partners, including Canada. Those rescued were mainly a mix of foreign nationals and Afghans who worked closely with NATO troops, making them potential targets for a vengeful Taliban.

Officials in Ottawa say 3,500 people came to Canada during the mass evacuations: 1,500 to 2,000 Afghan citizens, and the rest Canadians or residents.

But Ottawa has committed to taking 20,000 Afghan refugees, including those it considers to be the most vulnerable — women, girls and members of Afghanistan's LGBTQ community, as well as those who worked with Canadian Forces.

Some 7,000 Afghans have already come to Canada in the last few years.

CBC News

The U.S. is preparing for 34,000 new arrivals, with many staying in third countries — Colombia and Uganda, for example — temporarily for security screening and processing.

The U.K. has also promised to take in 20,000 Afghan refugees: 5,000 in 2021 and the rest in the coming years.

Still, other countries are firmly closing their doors. Turkey's military has been sent to evict refugees already inside its borders and to prevent new ones from coming in, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan insisting that his country would not become the EU's "migrant storage unit."

CBC

Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared that Moscow "doesn't want militants under the guise of refugees."

China is also not accepting any Afghan refugees, worried, in part, that they could import unwelcome religious and political ideas to Xinjiang, the region bordering Afghanistan. It's also the region where Beijing has been working forcefully to supress the local Uyghur population and Muslim practices.

Driven by a mix of violence, fear and rising uncertainty as the Taliban consolidates control in Afghanistan, Gallant cautions that the flow of those displaced is a "volatile situation," which could still upend current estimates and predictions.

Biden, Dems push Civilian Climate Corps in echo of New Deal

Wed., September 8, 2021



WASHINGTON (AP) — Inspired by the New Deal-era Civilian Conservation Corps, President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats are pushing for a modern counterpart: a Civilian Climate Corps that would create hundreds of thousands of jobs building trails, restoring streams and helping prevent catastrophic wildfires.

Building on Biden's oft-repeated comment that when he thinks of climate change, he thinks of jobs, the White House says the $10 billion program would address both priorities as young adults find work installing solar panels, planting trees, digging irrigation ditches and boosting outdoor recreation.

“We must seize this opportunity to build a big, bold pathway to critical careers, for a diverse generation of Americans ready to take on this existential crisis that we face,'' said Ali Zaidi, deputy White House climate adviser. "It’s national service meets family-supporting careers meets the moment.''

The effort comes as the White House and many Democrats are intensifying their focus on climate change after a series of devastating storms recently battered much of the nation. Touring neighborhoods in New York and New Jersey this week that were devastated by flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Ida, Biden said climate change has become “everybody's crisis.”

“The threat is here. It is not getting any better,” Biden said. “The question is can it get worse?”

The proposed climate corps was not included in a bipartisan infrastructure bill approved by the Senate, but it is a key part of an emerging $3.5 trillion package backed by Democrats to help families and address climate change. A vote in the House on both bills could occur by the end of the month.

Rep. Joe Neguse, a Colorado Democrat who has co-sponsored a climate corps bill, said it's important to train the next generation of U.S. land managers, park rangers and other stewards of our natural resources.

“This bold investment is a necessary response to the climate crisis and prioritizes the maintenance and upkeep of public lands,'' he said.

While the jobs should pay at least $15 an hour, those likely to join the climate corps “are not doing it for the compensation,'' Neguse said. "They know it's important to connect to nature and do important work for their state and the nation.''

Details are still being worked out, but Neguse and other Democrats say the program should pay “a living wage'' while offering health care coverage and support for child care, housing, transportation and education.

David Popp, a professor of public administration at Syracuse University, said a key distinction between the original Civilian Conservation Corps and the new climate contingent is that the U.S. economy is not in a depression — great or otherwise — as it was during Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency.

While U.S. employers added just 235,000 jobs in August, the unemployment rate decreased slightly to 5.2% as the economy continues to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

Most of those being targeted for the new climate corps “could find employment elsewhere,'' Popp said, noting a proliferation of help-wanted signs at retail businesses across the nation.

"I don't know that an unemployed coal worker in West Virginia is going to move to Montana to take a minimum-wage job to restore streams,'' he said.

On the other hand, some of his own students are highly motivated by the climate crisis and may want to spend a year or two on an outdoor job that helps address an existential threat to the planet, Popp said.

"Many young people are very passionate about the environment, and they may see this as an opportunity to do something about the environment and still get paid for it,'' he said.

Republicans largely dismiss the climate corps as a do-gooder proposal that would waste money and could even take away jobs from workers displaced by the pandemic and the push for so-called green jobs.

“My grandfather worked for the CCC, and I remember him telling me how terrible it was, how backbreaking the work was,” said Arkansas Rep. Bruce Westerman, the top Republican on the House Natural Resources Committee.

“We don’t need another FDR program, and the idea that this is going to help land management is a false idea as well,” Westerman said.

At a committee meeting last week, Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ore., called the proposed climate corps “delusional,'' adding: "Why would we think people are going to suddenly jump at doing really, really hard, dirty, dangerous work because we offer them $15 an hour? That’s not going to happen.”

In a widely circulated piece, the conservative Wall Street Journal editorial page said Democrats want to "expand government into every corner of American life. It isn’t enough to lecture Americans about the supposed perils of climate change. Now they also want to tax you and other Americans to pay your children to spend years lecturing you.''

Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., a prominent supporter of the climate corps, said such criticism overlooks important benefits.

The program will help communities recover from climate disasters such as Hurricane Ida and Western wildfires while creating “good-paying jobs that can turn into clean-economy careers,'' Markey said. In the process, the climate corps will “make the country a safer, healthier place that can compete in the global economy,'' he added.

"As the West Coast fights fires and the East Coast fights storms and smoke, the editorial board fights straw men,'' Markey said in a letter to the newspaper.

The urgency of the climate crisis “recalls past chapters of national mobilization,'' Neguse said. “In standing up the Civilian Climate Corps, we will build on that legacy and existing infrastructure to meet the challenges of today.”

Matthew Daly, The Associated Press

Biden Shifts Balance of FERC to Democrats With a Nomination

Ari Natter and Mark Chediak
Thu., September 9, 2021



(Bloomberg) -- President Joe Biden plans to nominate a Washington utility regulator to fill the remaining open seat at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, potentially tipping the panel’s balance of power in favor of Democrats.

Willie Phillips Jr., the chair of the Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia, would replace former FERC Commissioner Neil Chatterjee, who stepped down at the end of last month. Phillips’s appointment, if confirmed by the Senate, would give the top U.S. energy regulatory agency commission a majority of members appointed by Democrats.

The independent five-member agency, which plays a role overseeing liquefied natural gas export facilities, gas pipelines and wholesale power markets, is poised to play a pivotal part of fulfilling Biden’s clean-energy ambitions.

The commission could help Biden deliver on those promises by propelling a massive build-out of transmission lines to connect remote solar and wind farms to towns and cities. The agency could also make it more difficult to build natural gas pipelines.

Commissioners serve five-year terms at the bipartisan agency. The White House designates the chair.

“As the Biden administration advances its plans to tackle the climate crisis and create a clean electricity grid by 2035, FERC will maintain an important role regulating the transmission of renewable energy across the country,” the White House said in a statement obtained by Bloomberg announcing the intent to nominate Phillips.

Phillips is a relatively uncontroversial choice, which could boost his chances of swift Senate confirmation, ClearView Energy Partners said in a research note. He’s is more of a technician and a green pragmatist than a politician or progressive, according to the note.

Progressive Opposition

Some progressive environmental activists, including more than 400 green groups that had pushed other candidates for the job, opposed the nomination.

“This is a disappointing selection,” Food & Water Watch policy director Mitch Jones said in a statement. “Willie Phillips has spent his career working on the side of the oil and gas industry and electric utility giants.”

West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, who leads the panel that would approve the nomination, said in a statement that he looked forward to having Phillips appear before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and “will carefully examine his record and qualifications to serve in this important role.”

The agency dictates how electricity is bought and sold in wholesale markets, which are where most utilities get their power. And the commission’s decisions governing gas pipelines can give developers a green light to invoke eminent domain and install projects on private land.

Phillips, a lawyer with nearly 20 years of legal experience as a utility regulator, led the District Public Service Commission’s efforts to modernize the energy grid and implement the city’s clean energy and climate goals, according to the White House. Before that, he was an assistant general counsel for the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, a regulatory body.

Polish Senate rejects media bill affecting US-owned company

Thu., September 9, 2021

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's Senate voted on Thursday to reject a media bill seen as targeting a U.S.-owned television network's ability to keep broadcasting independent news that is often critical of the right-wing government.

However, the Senate has no power to stop the bill altogether, as it will now return to parliament's lower house. If it passes there, it would then go to President Andrzej Duda — who, however, has said he would not sign it into law in its current form.

The bill, which passed parliament's lower house last month, would prevent any non-European entity from owning more than a 49% stake in television or radio broadcasters in Poland.

Its practical effect would be to force Discovery Inc., the U.S. owner of Poland’s largest private television network, TVN, to sell its Polish holdings.

The nationalist governing party, Law and Justice, argues that it's a matter of national security to prevent outside bodies from being able to influence public opinion within Poland.

Bogdan Klich, a senator with the opposition party Civic Platform, called the law an “act of war against freedom of speech.”

Pavol Szalaj, a representative of the Paris-based press freedom group Reporters Without Borders traveled to Warsaw to urge its rejection, saying to a group of protesters outside the Senate ahead of the vote that press freedom in Poland is under threat. He cited other threats in the past to media diversity and said that the today's target is TVN.

“TVN has been a jewel in the crown of Polish democracy for decades,” he said.

Senators in the 100-seat body voted 53-37 against the bill, with three abstentions. When it returns to the Sejm, the lower house of parliament, the vote on the bill will also be a test of whether the ruling party still has a legislative majority following some defections in the governing coalition.

TVN also faces a separate challenge: A refusal to date by the broadcast authority to renew the license for TVN24, the network's all-news station, which expires later this month.

Kasia Kieli, Discovery’s president and managing director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said that despite the Senate's vote the company is “still concerned about the future of TVN and independent media in Poland as the bill can still be passed by the Sejm and the license for our news channel TVN24 is still not renewed.”

Duda, though an ally of Law and Justice, last month called the bill “a controversial solution that is incomprehensible" to the United States, citing the U.S. attitude toward the protection of property and freedom of speech.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last month that the U.S. was “deeply troubled” by the proposed legislation.

Vanessa Gera, The Associated Press

THE WAR ON VAPING

FDA delays decision on e-cigarettes from vaping giant Juul

Thu., September 9, 2021,


WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal health officials on Thursday delayed a high-stakes decision on whether to permit bestselling vaping brand Juul to stay on the market, while banning the sale of thousands of other electronic cigarettes.

The Food and Drug Administration said it rejected applications for nearly 950,000 e-cigarettes and related products, mainly due to their potential appeal to underage teens. Some of the products are currently being sold while many others were only proposed by manufacturers. But the agency didn't rule on Juul, the most popular brand with adult smokers and many teens.

Parents, politicians and anti-tobacco advocates have pressured the FDA for years to ban Juul's high-nicotine devices, which many blame for the recent spike in underage vaping. But the agency said it would need more time to rule on that company's products.

“There’s more work to be done to complete our remaining reviews and ensure that we continue taking appropriate action to protect our nation’s youth from the dangers of all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes,” the agency said in a statement. The agency noted 80% of teens and children who vape use flavored products.

Thursday’s action is part of a sweeping review by the FDA to bring scientific scrutiny to the multibillion-dollar vaping industry after years of regulatory delays. The agency has yet to authorize any vaping product as a less harmful option for smokers.

The FDA faced a court deadline Thursday to issue decisions on marketing applications from Juul and hundreds of other companies. The date was set by a federal judge after anti-tobacco groups successfully sued the FDA to speed up its review.

To stay on the market, companies must show that their e-cigarettes benefit public health. In practice, that means proving that adult smokers who use the products are likely to quit or reduce their smoking, while teens are unlikely to get hooked on them.

FDA regulators previously said they would prioritize Juul and a handful of other key players, but none were included in the agency's announcement.

The delay was immediately panned by anti-vaping groups.

“This is an outrageous move by FDA,” said Meredith Berkman, co-founder of Parents Against Vaping E-cigarettes. “Millions of families whose kids’ lives have been upended by the youth vaping epidemic created by Juul have waited long enough for action.”

The FDA didn't indicate when it might rule on Juul and other major manufacturers. Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said his group will go back to court if the FDA doesn’t clarify its timeline for the remaining decisions.

E-cigarettes first appeared in the U.S. more than a decade ago with the promise of providing smokers with a less harmful alternative to smoking traditional tobacco cigarettes. The devices heat a nicotine solution into a vapor that’s inhaled.

But there has been little rigorous study of whether the e-cigarettes truly help smokers quit. And efforts by the FDA to begin vetting vaping products and their claims were repeatedly slowed by industry lobbying and competing political interests.

Today, the vaping market includes hundreds of companies selling an array of devices and nicotine solutions in various flavors and strengths. But the vast majority of the market is controlled by a few companies including Juul Labs Inc. — which is partially owned by tobacco giant Altria — and Vuse, part of cigarette maker R.J. Reynolds.

Juul accounts for nearly half of the $4 billion U.S. market but sales have fallen sharply from when the company controlled more than 75%. In 2019, the company was pressured into halting all advertising and pulling all of its flavors except for menthol and tobacco.

The FDA received applications for more than 6 million vaping products. The agency said Thursday it has taken action on 93% of those applications, including for 4.5 million products that were immediately rejected because they were missing key information.

It is still reviewing a smaller number of applications for other non-traditional tobacco products like hookahs, pipes and mini cigars. Those products weren’t covered by the original 2009 law that first gave the FDA authority to oversee some parts of the industry, including the review of new products. Also awaiting review: larger vaping devices with refillable tanks that are mainly popular with adults and sell at specialty vape shops.

The vaping issue took on new urgency in 2018 when Juul’s high-nicotine, fruity-flavored cartridges became a nationwide craze among middle and high school students, leading the FDA to declare an “epidemic” of underage vaping. Last year, the FDA limited flavors in those small vaping devices to just tobacco and menthol, and teen vaping dropped. But the question of whether e-cigarettes should be sold at all remained.

Most experts agree the chemicals contained in e-cigarette vapor are less harmful than tobacco smoke, which contains thousands of cancer-causing chemicals.

“E-cigs and other reduced harm products present a fantastic opportunity to replace cigarettes with far less dangerous products,” said Jonathan Foulds, an addiction and public health specialist at Penn State University. “But I’m concerned this may be the start of an overly aggressive regulation for e-cigarettes — especially compared to how we treat regular cigarettes.”

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Matthew Perrone, The Associated Press

Fed’s Kaplan, Rosengren to Sell All Stocks Amid Ethics Concerns

Catarina Saraiva
Thu., September 9, 2021, 3:30 p.m.·1 min read

(Bloomberg) -- The presidents of the Federal Reserve banks of Boston and Dallas said Thursday they would sell their individual stock holdings by Sept. 30 and invest the proceeds in diversified index funds or hold them in cash.

Eric Rosengren, head of the Boston Fed, and Robert Kaplan, president of the Dallas Fed, released near-identical statements Thursday after their 2021 financial disclosure documents showed investments in a variety of stocks and other financial instruments.

Rosengren’s disclosure listed stakes in four separate real estate investment trusts and disclosed multiple purchases and sales in those and other securities, the documents show.

Kaplan, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. executive, showed multiple $1 million-plus transactions last year as the U.S. economy was convulsed by Covid-19.

California Seeks to Avert Blackouts by Burning More Gas

Mark Chediak and Naureen S. Malik
Thu., September 9, 2021, 


(Bloomberg) -- California is asking the federal government to declare an “electric reliability emergency” so the Golden State can lean more heavily on fossil fuels to avoid blackouts.

The state’s main grid operator wants the U.S. Department of Energy to suspend air-pollution rules for some natural gas-burning power plants in case their output is needed “to meet demand in the face of extremely challenging conditions including extreme heat waves, multiple fires, high winds, and various grid issues,” according to a filing. The last time California received a waiver of such length and breadth was 21 years ago during the Western Energy Crisis.

For a second straight day, authorities urged residents of the biggest U.S. state to conserve energy as a heat wave boosts air-conditioning use.

The emergency request highlights the conflict between California’s green aspirations and the physical reality that wind and solar thus far haven’t been able to cover power shortfalls exacerbated by the shuttering of gas-fired generators. The California Independent System Operator has warned of looming electricity shortages several times this summer.

An emergency declaration by the Energy Department would allow new gas units recently ordered by the state to connect to the grid by the middle of this month, the California ISO said in its filing. It would also relax pollution limits for some other gas plants that would otherwise be forced to temporarily halt power production.

A similar emergency order was issued during the deadly Texas freeze that triggered widespread blackouts, Energy Department spokesman Kevin Liao said.

Clean Energy will drive Deep-Sea Mining to become a $100 billion plus industry, but U.S. can't participate

 

Kitco News  Thursday September 09, 2021 

(Kitco News) - The U.S. has locked itself out from the next major mining frontier -- deep sea mining -- while China leads the world in it, said Alex Gilbert. Achieving the goal of net zero emissions by 2050 would require six times more of certain minerals that are currently mined by 2040, according to the International Energy Agency. This has led to a demand in deep sea mining.

Gilbert, who is a Fellow at the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines, spoke to Michelle Makori, lead anchor and editor-in-chief of Kitco News.

There is a Law of the Sea Treaty set up in 1982 that regulates deep sea mining, but the U.S. cannot participate in deep sea mining because the U.S. did not ratify this treaty. "American companies cannot participate. American companies that are interested in deep sea mining have to go abroad and work as a multinational corporation with their foreign subsidiaries," Gilbert said.

"The country that has received the most exploration permits for deep sea mining so far is China. For the U.S., this is potentially a large concern from an economic competitiveness perspective, because currently China is the leading processor of metals around the world," Gilbert explained. "If you believe that we are going through this energy transition from a fossil fuel based energy system to one based on metals for clean energy, the U.S. plays a central role in the fossil fuel based commodity system."

The shift to clean energy is expected to drive a huge demand for many metals but the International Energy Agency reported that there isn't enough supply at current levels. "The U.S. doesn't have a central role in the supply chain for metals. China is quickly moving across the board, not just for deep sea mining, but around the world it has established claims and mines so it can dominate the supply chain of the future," Gilbert discussed. "The question is how broadly do we ensure critical mineral supply, but that's something the U.S. needs to figure out."

The lack of metal supply has led to a demand in deep sea mining. The global deep sea mining technologies market and equipment is expected to reach about $73 billion by 2030, according to Allied Market Research.

"The potential size of the deep-sea mining market is really large. It is a huge question mark, it's an industry that we are just on the verge of really birthing. We are in the exploration phase. We are moving closely toward the exploitation phase," said Gilbert. "This could be an industry that's anywhere from a very small cottage industry up to a global industry that is a juggernaut. It could be a hundred billion plus industry by 2040 or later."

Gilbert discussed that in order to meet the decarbonization goals we set internationally, it is imperative that we significantly increase the amount of mining we are doing. "The current production levels are not going to be sufficient," Gilbert said. "We are going to have to find new sources, rapidly develop new technologies that are using resources more efficiently, and we are going to need to use more recycling technologies."

In terms of investing in deep sea mining companies, Gilbert emphasized that "This is still an early industry, and he cautions investors to be careful. We see a fair amount of action happening primarily with a Canadian based company called Deep Green. It is currently going public as part of SPAC, which will be called the Metals Company going forward. It is targeting polymetallic nodules for electric vehicle supplies."

Critics of deep-sea mining say that harvesting these nodules on the bottom of the sea could do more harm than good in terms of decarbonization, and this could disturb the ecosystem dramatically. "One of the big issues that we are struggling with is that we only just started exploring the deep seabed in a systematic manner in terms of looking at the biology there. If this is going to be a major source of clean energy we need to resolve these environmental uncertainties, "Gilbert said.

Judge: County can't ban water delivery to Hmong pot farmers


Thu., September 9, 2021, 

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A federal judge has ruled Northern California county officials can't stop trucks from delivering water to Hmong cannabis farmers, saying the practice raises “serious questions” about racial discrimination and leaves the growers without a source of water for drinking, bathing and growing food.

Chief U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller last week issued a temporary injunction against Siskiyou County’s prohibition on trucked-in water deliveries to Hmong farmers growing marijuana in the Mount Shasta Vista subdivision in the Big Springs area north of the town of Weed.

“Without an injunction, the plaintiffs and other members of the Shasta Vista Hmong community will likely go without water for their basic needs and will likely lose more plants and livestock,” she wrote in the ruling issued last Friday.

“The plaintiffs have also raised serious questions about their constitutional right to be free from racial discrimination,” she added.

Mueller’s injunction takes effect immediately and will remain in place until the conclusion of a federal lawsuit filed by the Hmong community against county ordinances aimed at cutting off the water supply to illegal marijuana grows. They allege the ordinances were racially motivated and violated their civil rights. No trial date has been scheduled, the Sacramento Bee reported.

Authorities estimate there are 5,000 to 6,000 greenhouses growing pot in the Big Springs area, with as many as 4,000 to 8,000 people tending them, most of them Hmong and immigrants of Chinese descent who have moved to the area in the last five years.

Siskiyou County officials this spring approved ordinances that prohibit selling well water without a permit and ban water trucks on the roads leading to the subdivision.

The permit forms are all written in English despite a language barrier for some residents, and the county requires anyone who signs an application to swear not to violate any county rules, which Mueller notes includes not having a proper water supply at their homes.

The ordinances were enacted after residents complained the expansion of the greenhouses was leading to local wells going dry and officials said there was a rise in violent crime.

The judge did leave in place a county ordinance that prohibits selling well water specifically for illegal cannabis cultivation. The injunction only covers water sales and deliveries for residents' needs such as bathing and gardening, said Allison Margolin, one of the attorneys for the Hmong.

Siskiyou County’s attorney, Edward Kiernan, didn’t immediately return a request for comment. In previous interviews, Siskiyou County officials denied their motivations were driven by race.

Mueller noted that the county does present its own compelling case that crime is on the rise.

“The Sheriff’s Office has responded to reports of armed robbery, assault, and murder. In just one recent week, a man was pistol-whipped and robbed, another was the target of gunshots fired by a neighbor, and six people were bound and robbed by gunmen wielding AK-47s. Few similar crimes were reported in Shasta Vista before illegal cannabis cultivation took hold,” she wrote.

Hmong growers also argued that the ban on water deprives them of the ability to put out any fires that start in the subdivision.

In late June, a lightning strike sparked the Lava Fire nearby before burning through several parcels in the Mount Shasta Vista subdivision.

The Hmong in Shasta Vista accused firefighters of not bothering to try to put it out, blocking them from bringing their own water trucks so they could fight the fire themselves.

Local authorities disputed those charges and said the marijuana farmers blocked roads, threw rocks and forced Cal Fire crews to retreat.

The tensions became deadly when officers shot and killed a Hmong man who they say tried to drive through a fire checkpoint brandishing a gun.

County officials say the investigation into the shooting is ongoing. Authorities haven’t yet released the final report or body camera or dash camera footage taken of the shooting.

The Associated Press

Lawsuit: Farm hired white immigrants over Black US laborers


Thu., September 9, 2021

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Six Black farmworkers in Mississippi say in a new lawsuit that their former employer brought white laborers from South Africa to do the same jobs they were doing, and that the farm has been violating federal law by paying the white immigrants more for the same type of work.

Mississippi Center for Justice and Southern Migrant Legal Services filed the federal lawsuit Wednesday on behalf of the six workers against Pitts Farm Partnership, which grows cotton, soybeans and corn in the Mississippi Delta's Sunflower County.

The lawsuit said the farm violated regulations of a foreign worker visa program, which requires equal treatment of U.S. workers and their immigrant counterparts. It seeks an unspecified amount in damages, including money the U.S. workers say they were shorted because of the uneven pay scale.

The Associated Press left messages by phone and email with Pitts Farms seeking comment about the lawsuit. There was no immediate response by Thursday afternoon.

Four of the plaintiffs — Andrew Johnson, Wesley Reed, Gregory Strong and Richard Strong — said they did agricultural work from February through November and Pitts Farm Partnership usually paid them the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, with $8.25 an hour for weekend work.

Two of the plaintiffs, Stacy Griffin and James Simpson, drove trucks for the farming operation during harvest time, usually from late July or early August through November. The lawsuit said they had been paid $9 an hour since 2018.

The farm paid the white workers from South Africa $9.87 an hour in 2014 and that rate increased most years until it reached $11.83 an hour in 2020, the lawsuit said.

Amal Bouhabib, an attorney for Southern Migrant Legal Services, said the H-2A program allows U.S. farmers to hire foreign workers when no U.S. workers are available.

“It does not allow farmers to pay their American workforce less than the foreign workers, or to replace willing and able U.S. workers," Bouhabib said in a news release.

The lawsuit said the Pitts family hired a white supervisor who gave employees their daily duties and had the power to hire and fire workers.

“Occasionally, the supervisor used racial slurs,” the lawsuit said. “Pitts Farms was informed about the supervisor’s use of racial slurs and did nothing.”

The lawsuit said the farm started bringing in white workers from South Africa in 2014, using a placement firm to hire seasonal labor, and that from 2014 to 2020, the farm did not make the same effort to recruit U.S. workers as it did to obtain immigrant workers.

Ty Pinkins of the Mississippi Center for Justice said in the news release that with high unemployment in the Mississippi Delta, “it is unacceptable and unlawful" for farmers to hire outside workers when local residents need jobs.

"Unfortunately, this case is emblematic of a disastrous pattern in the South. Our research indicates that farm owners are increasingly abusing the H-2A program and denying opportunities to U.S. workers,” Pinkins said. “The case also reflects our nation’s deep, ugly history of exploiting Black labor. For too long, powerful businesses have abused Black Americans for profit.”

Mississippi is a largely rural state with poultry, soybeans, timber, cotton and corn as the top agricultural products.

In August 2019, U.S. immigration agents raided seven chicken processing plants in Mississippi and arrested 680 mostly Latino workers in the largest such operation in at least a decade. Two years after the raid, Mississippi Center for Justice said about 230 people had been deported because of previous immigration orders or other causes, and about 400 were awaiting hearings.

____

Follow Emily Wagster Pettus on Twitter at http://twitter.com/EWagsterPettus.

Emily Wagster Pettus, The Associated Press

Immigrant Sept. 11 cleanup crews seek residency as a reward

Wed., September 8, 2021



NEW YORK (AP) — Franklin Anchahua cleared thick layers of dust in offices, apartments and even in a chapel in lower Manhattan for weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks.

At first, he treated his heartburn and acid reflux with herbs his mother would send from Peru. He avoided available health programs because he lives illegally in the U.S. and feared deportation.

Until the discomfort was too much.

“It was awful. I needed medical treatment, a specialist. I also had breathing problems,” said Anchahua, 50, who sought care for the first time at Bellevue Hospital in 2011.

He and other immigrants, mostly Spanish-speaking clean up workers, have long asked to obtain legal immigration status in the U.S. as a way to compensate for the work and subsequent health problems they suffered after the attacks.

But 20 years after 9/11, only several dozens are still participating in protests and making the request, while others have abandoned that fight.

“It is hard to find a job here without immigration status,” Anchahua said. “Attorneys who helped us years ago told us we would get immigration papers but, look, 20 years have passed and we have nothing."

Not as visible as those who worked on the World Trade Center rubble pile, some of these cleaners didn’t seek medical help immediately because they feared deportation, ignored how to navigate the application process or did not know help was available.

While some say they feel forgotten by the U.S. government, others returned to Latin America.

Hired informally by cleaning companies, they cleared debris, asbestos and dust inside lower Manhattan buildings for months without adequate protective gear. Some are struggling to cope with how the disaster transformed their lives, saying they are also treated for anxiety, depression and post traumatic disorder.

A few of them are organizing a small protest in October to push the government to establish a pathway for legal residency for immigrant cleanup workers.

They have done similar protests in the past. Former U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley announced a bill in 2017 to put Sept. 11 responders and cleanup workers on a fast track to legal immigration status in the U.S. His office estimated then that 1,000 to 2,000 immigrants would be covered.

The bill did not go very far; it was not reintroduced by any of Congressman Crowley’s fellow cosponsors after he retired.

The office of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who defeated Crowley in midterm election primaries in 2018, told AP it was “actively” exploring the possibility of reintroducing the bill.

“The Congresswoman is also supportive of greater immigration reform, co-sponsoring many pieces of legislation that would have provided a path to citizenship for these workers as well as others,” said Ocasio-Cortez spokesperson Lauren Hitt.

While many of the cleaners were from Latin America, others were from Poland and other European countries. They organized in different groups and shared information about medical help and forms of compensation.

Rosa Bramble Caballero, a licensed clinical social worker, has helped these workers for 15 years, first in partnership with state and local programs to assist them and afterward voluntarily, organizing meetings at the basement of her office in Queens.

Dozens of cleanup workers have shown up there to talk, eat chicken and cheese empanadas, and sip coffee together.

“This became a space so they could feel safe, talk about their lives, about their needs, but most of all, support each other, not feel alone,” said Bramble Caballero.

Lucelly Gil, a 65-year-old Colombian, is a regular at the Queens gatherings.

She received compensation from the federal victims fund after developing breast cancer and takes medication for rhinitis and gastritis. She is being treated for depression and uses an asthma inhaler.

Gil spent six months cleaning debris in lower Manhattan, at government offices, banks and restaurants. She made about $60 for every eight hours of work.

She said she had nightmares for a long time after seeing first responders retrieve body parts. She vividly remembers her cough while working and the rashes in her skin after tearing down fiberglass insulating paper from walls.

“Instead of giving us some compensation, they could have given us (immigration) papers,” she said. “All of us, all of the Hispanic workers, we saw the consequences of that cleanup work later on."

More than 112,000 people have enrolled in the federal World Trade Center Health Program, which offers free medical care to people who can document that they were exposed to dust from the twin towers, regardless of their immigration status.

Many of those enrollees have mild or controllable conditions, like heartburn, chronic sinus problems or asthma, that are common in the general public and may or may not be linked to the attacks. Others are more seriously ill or developed conditions rare for their age group.

Joan Reibman, medical director at the World Trade Center Environmental Health Center, which has treated cleanup workers for years, said that many of them have developed a significant reduction in lung function, digestive disorders and PTSD.

“They were exposed to terrible sights in those days,” she said.

They faced barriers in seeking care, like economic vulnerabilities and not belonging to a union, she said.

“Many of them were not aware of the programs because they were not connected in the same way that many other responders were. Many of them were also not English speakers,” said Reibman.

About 800 cleanup workers are treated at the WTC Environmental Health Center, one of several places they could potentially get care.

The medical programs do not ask about immigration status.

About four years ago, Anchahua, the Peruvian immigrant, received $52,000 after filing a claim against the cleaning company he worked for in lower Manhattan after the attacks. Early last year he moved back to Peru to assist her elderly mother and a sick brother.

He decided, however, to return to New York this year after not finding work in his homeland and concluding that he needed to continue medical treatment. He asked the U.S. government for a humanitarian visa, which was denied. He crossed the border illegally through Mexico last month.

Luis Soriano, another cleanup worker, also left for Latin America but decided not to return to the U.S.

“My mother was getting old so I moved to Ecuador in 2016. But my health wasn't great," said the 59-year-old artisan mannequin maker in a phone interview.

Soriano cleared debris for three months around Fulton Street. He still sometimes feels fatigue or shortness of breath.. Medication for that, however, is expensive in Ecuador and he can’t afford it, he said.

“We need to be remembered. We were all immigrants who contributed to the U.S. We worked hard there, paid taxes, grew old there. Some cleanup workers I knew died of cancer,” he said. “We should all be remembered for what we did.”

SEE

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2021/09/thousands-suffer-health-effects-of.html

Mars Homes, Residences in Post-Apocalyptic Setting Shown in 3D Architecture Including Drone-Like Flying Houses, Domes, Aquatic Pods

Margaret Davis Sep 09, 2021 06:47 AM EDT

Architect Chris Lawson reimagines future homes on Earth would look. According to New York Post, Lawson specifically laid out his plans on four types of homes for different conditions, such as a home on land, in the clouds, underwater, and even an underground post-apocalyptic type.

Each home is designed with materials that can withstand the elements of its environment. GoodMove , a real estate development company, and a 3D designer brought Lawson's sketches to life to show a futuristic view of houses in different settings.

Lawson's Four Types of Future Homes

NASA and its partners, like SpaceX, try to make the dream of living on Mars possible through the Mars mission program that sends orbiters, and rovers on the Red Planet to study its composition, terrain, atmosphere, and whether it once hosted life in the past. As they move on to send the first manned mission to Mars by 2030, Lawson believes a bubble-like dome could be the shelter for future humans.

Lawson explains that the dome would allow easier layering from the upper and lower level for farming crops and adding solar panels outside to promote self-reliant energy. It would be made of either titanium, heavy-duty plastic, or glass to bear the weight of the dome and make it functional.

Moreover, flying homes are also a possibility given the myriad of technological advances today. GoodMove said that these flying homes would resemble the shape of drones today, except they would be bigger with gigantic propellers that will continuously spin for the house to continually fly in the air.

The third type of home Lawson designed are pods that are ideal for aquatic living. It somewhat resembles the Mars dome, but only it is designed to float on the water. Since Earth is 71% covered by water, it is an ideal aquatic type of home.

The aquatic home will be built using glass or heavy-duty plastic to hold up against the water. GoodMove also pointed out that lift access would be required so people could get back to the surface as some parts of the structure would be sitting beneath the waves.

Lastly, the fourth type of home would be the apocalyptic home. It is built and designed to be sturdier than common homes inspired by the possibility that humans may have to live in an apocalypse in the future. Lawson and GoodMove envision a nicer version of post-apocalyptic houses that are built underground for optimal safety, and windows or surface domes that are built-in hillsides.

Also, the futuristic design allows for fresh air to come in and an external vent or tube to filter that air. Mirrors will also be included to allow sunlight in for crop production.

ALSO READ: Ancient Homes Unearthed at German Stonehenge; Archeologists Consider It an Archeology Breakthrough

Home on Mars

(Photo : Wikimedia Commons)
Artist's concept of Martian habitat Mars has air, but not the kind that people can breathe. Even on the warmest days, the temperature is too cold for people to live comfortably. When astronauts go to Mars, they will always need to be in spacesuits or inside buildings to live.

So, how about Martian habitats for future manned missions? Although Lawson did not release any sketches for a possible home on Mars, NASA and other organizations have been designing possible Martian shelters for the future colony on the Red Planet.

For instance, NASA is studying using 3D printers that will use soil from Mars to print habitats for astronauts. According to a previous report from Science Times, they would employ 3D printing to make parts, tools, and other electronics that are essential for the habitat.

Additionally, there was also a plan of using chitin-derived materials to build parts and tools that are needed to build a Martian habitat. Researchers from the Singapore University of Technology and Design are planning to use the organic substance to build shelters for future Mars missions.

Lastly, some scientists are also proposing using the hollow lava tubes beneath Mars as a temporary shelter from radiation. Although for now, NASA would still prefer for the astronauts to remain in secured spacecraft.

Did a Black Hole Cause a Rare, Premature Supernova? Scientists Explain How It Happened

Aubrey Clarke Sep 07, 2021 

Astronomers have found a new sort of supernova for the first time. After meeting with an incredibly massive object, maybe a black hole or a neutron star, an unfortunate star appears to have burst prematurely, leaving a distinct trace in the sky.

The narrative began when Caltech astronomer Dillon Dong saw an unusual signal in data collected by the Very Large Array (VLA) Sky Observatory in 2017. The said observatory continuously monitors the universe for radio emitters. This specific signal, known as VT 1210+4956, was a very bright radio wave pulse.

Researchers detailed the study findings, titled "A Transient Radio Source Consistent With a Merger-Triggered Core Collapse Supernova," in the journal Science.

Spotting a Star-Studded Mystery

Certain astronomical phenomena, particularly those that are unique, leave behind temporary calling cards. Short, brilliant bursts of radio waves that fade away rapidly are known as radio transients. Catching a glimpse of them at the proper time can show the explosive nature of merging stars.

CNN, citing Dong's interpretation of the event, said the explosive outburst occurred from a star engulfed by a thick shell of gas. The gas had been ejected from the star hundreds of years earlier. When the star exploded in a supernova, a brilliant explosion happened. When the exploding material collided with the gas shell, a brilliant burst of radio waves resulted.

(Photo: Chuck Carter/Caltech)
This illustration shows a massive star that is about to explode. The explosion was triggered after its dead-star companion (a black hole or neutron star) plunged into the star's core. Scientists say that the black hole or neutron star rammed into the massive star and then, as it traveled inward over the course of centuries, ejected a spiral of material from the star's atmosphere (pictured surrounding the star). When it reached the star's core, material from the core rapidly fell onto the stellar corpse, which led to the launching of a pair of jets at nearly the speed of light. In this artist's depiction, the jets are shown tunneling through the star and soon set off the supernova explosion. After a few years, the supernova will crash through the bulk of the ejected spiral, extending to about 10,000 times the size of the star. This will create the luminous transient radio source observed by the Very Large Array.

However, Dong had more doubts regarding when and why the star first expelled its gas.

In a statement, Caltech graduate student Anna Ho recommended that the radio transient be compared to known brilliant X-ray bursts that last barely a few seconds.

ALSO READ: Supernova Blast Captured: Kepler Space Telescope Reveals the Groundbreaking Data It Recorded 3 Years Ago

Weird, Unusual Event

Slashgear said Dong located X-rays in the exact location as the strong radio transient. The researchers indicated that they were most likely produced by the same source.

According to Dong, the X-ray transient was a rare occurrence. He added that the transient indicated the deployment of a jet at the time of the explosion. Relativistic jets are electrified matter beams that travel at almost the speed of light.

Dong said the debris from the explosion eventually collided with a huge torus of dense gas expelled from the star millennia before. These two occurrences have never been linked back, and they are incredibly unique on their own.

How VLT Solved The Weird Mystery

Tech News Taiwan, citing the researchers, said two stars were born and created a system of concatenations a long time ago. One of which died later in a supernova explosion and became a neutron star or black hole. But as gravity crossed paths with two objects closer to each other, the nearby star swallowed up the death star. It orbited in the outermost surface of the latter for hundreds of years.

Large masses of gas and dust were released around the star during this time to form a material shell. The massive energy jet from the death star was noticed in X-ray form by maxi in 2014, after which debris from the explosion hit the nearby material shell at high speed, making visible light and radio radiation, which was found by a vast antenna array.

A big star should have burst after running out of core fuel. Still, the event was triggered by a dead partner in the system pushing it into the ocean, causing the massive star to explode early, according to scientists.

Scientists discovered a 26-foot-long dinosaur with shark-like teeth that
ruled the food chain before the T. rex

Marianne Guenot

Thu, September 9, 2021

• Scientists have discovered a new species of dinosaur that lived around 90 million years ago.

• It was about 26 feet long and weighed more than a ton.

• It would have been the largest carnivorous predator in that ecosystem at the time, scientists said.

• See more stories on Insider's business page.

Scientists have found a previously unknown, 26-foot-long dinosaur that ruled the food chain before the T. rex.

The study, a collaboration between University of Calgary in Canada and Tsukuba University in Japan, was published in the peer-reviewed journal Royal Society Open Science on Tuesday.

The Ulughbegsaurus uzbekistanensis (pronounced oo-LOOG-bek-SAW-rus, according to CBS News) was a meat-eating dinosaur would have roamed Central Asia more than 90 million years ago, during the late Cretaceous Period.

It would have towered over other predators at the time, including the tyrannosaurus, which were a lot smaller than the T. rex, which appeared about 7 million years later.

The scientists estimated that the Ulughbegsaurus was about 26 feet long, according to a Tsukuba University statement. It also weighed more than 1,000 kilograms (1.1 tons), the study said.

"It would have been the largest carnivorous predator of the ecosystem at that time," said Darla Zelenitsky, associate professor of dinosaur paleobiology at the University of Calgary and one of the study's authors, per CBS News. 

The Ulughbegsaurus also had shark-like teeth, CBS News reported, with Zelenitsky calling the discovery "the latest occurrence of one of these shark-tooth dinosaurs."

The dinosaur was a type of carcharodontosaur, a group of dinosaurs in which there are only two other known species. The Ulughbegsaurus was named after Ulugh Beg, a sultan and astronomer who lived in the region in the 1400s.

The bone fragments and teeth that led to the discovery of the new dinosaur were unearthed from the Kyzylkum Desert in Uzbekistan in the 1980s, CBS News reported.

But Kohei Tanaka, a University of Tsukuba professor who led the study, was the first to realize that the pieces had belonged to an undiscovered species, per CBS News.