Saturday, October 02, 2021

A 19th-century artist's astronomical drawings are stunningly accurate. 
Compare them to NASA images today.
orion nebula cloud of cosmic dust black and white illustration on left colorful yellow red green blue nasa telescope image on right
The Orion nebula, as Etienne Léopold Trouvelot drew it (left), and as NASA telescopes captured it (right). E. L. Trouvelot, from The New York Public Library; NASA/JPL-Caltech/STScI
  • French artist Etienne Léopold Trouvelot sketched gorgeous illustrations of planets, star clusters, meteor showers, and eclipses in the 19th century.

  • He worked for the Harvard College observatory, using a telescope with a grid etched into the glass eyepiece and sketching his astronomical observations on grid paper.

  • Trouvelot published 15 of his sketches as pastels. They're some of the best-preserved astronomical drawings of the 19th century.

  • Some illustrations are incredibly accurate, documenting moon craters and solar flares with scientific precision. Others are more creative and abstract, projecting Trouvelot's artistic expression onto the cosmos.

  • Today, sophisticated observatories and space telescopes snap images of the same celestial phenomena that Trouvelot captured more than 150 years ago. Here's how the 19th-century drawings compare to contemporary photos.

  • See more stories on Insider's business page.

Etienne Léopold Trouvelot spent hours peering at planets, star clusters, and solar eruptions through a telescope with a grid etched into its glass eyepiece.

three sketches of craters on the moon
Three sketches of craters on the moon, produced in 1872 by Etienne Léopold Trouvelot. SSPL/Getty Images

Born in France in 1827, Trouvelot is most famous for bringing gypsy moths with him to the US. The invasive insect would go on to spread across North America, devouring more than 300 species of trees and shrubs.

gypsy moth elm tree trouvelot ny public library
In 1896, workers attempted to eradicate gypsy moth larvae from a large elm tree near Etienne Trouvelot's home in Malden, Massachusetts. Library of Congress

But Trouvelot was also an artist, and he got a job sketching astronomical observations at Harvard College's observatory. He drew what he saw through the gridded telescope.

museum attendees look at a drawing of a total solar eclipse
People look at a drawing by Etienne Leopold Trouvelot called "Total Eclipse of the Sun" (1882) on July 1, 2019, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Thomas Urbain/AFP/Getty Images

Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Over time, he turned many of those sketches into pastels and published 15 of them in The Trouvelot Astronomical Drawings Manual. This one shows sunspots.

sun spots illustration

These are dark patches of reduced temperatures that temporarily appear on the sun's surface.

More than 150 years later, photographic observatories on Earth and sophisticated telescopes in space are capturing the subjects of Trouvelot's drawings.

sunspots dark spots on the solar surface
An active region on the sun, with dark sunspots. NASA/SDO/AIA/HMI/Goddard Space Flight Center

Compared to the real thing, some of his art is shockingly accurate, like this drawing of plasma bursting from the sun's surface.

solar flare eruption illustration

NASA now has plenty of footage of flares and eruptions on the sun. Many of the explosions look just like Trouvelot's illustration.

solar flare red orange plasma erupting from the sun's surface
A solar flare, captured November 1, 2014. NASA/Solar Dynamics Observatory

In other drawings Trouvelot appears to have taken more artistic liberties, like this tribute to the aurora borealis.

aurora borealis drawing rays like sunset

In reality, those green and purple ribbons aren't usually so linear.

Aurora Borealis
The Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) is seen over the sky near Rovaniemi in Lapland, Finland, October 7, 2018. Alexander Kuznetsov/Reuters

His depictions of the sun and moon in particular were exquisitely detailed.

moon crater illustration

He captured this 500-mile-wide region of the moon, called Mare Humorum, or Sea of Moisture, with camera-like precision.

moon crater
Mare Humorum, imaged in 1966. The Lunar and Planetary Institute

Trouvelot's illustration of Jupiter includes the planet's Great Red Spot, a raging cyclone large enough to swallow the Earth.

jupiter illustration abstract circles clouds

It looks different than today's photos, but that's probably because the Great Red Spot has been shrinking and getting more circular since astronomers began observing it about 150 years ago.

jupiter great red spot hubble

Astronomers had been peering at Saturn for centuries by the time Trouvelot sketched it.

saturn illustration

But in recent decades, spacecraft like NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have gotten closer, sharper looks.

saturn

Trouvelot's depiction of Saturn was straightforward, but his Mars was more abstract.

mars illustration abstract swirls

Perhaps he caught the planet during a dust storm, but nothing on its surface today makes such a dramatic swirl.

mars red planet with brown patches and white polar ice caps

Looking beyond our solar system, Trouvelot spotted the Orion nebula - a dense cloud of gas that constantly forms new stars, 1,500 light-years from Earth.

orion nebula illustration

NASA's Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes have captured Orion in three different light spectra, revealing gas layers of the stellar nursery.

orion nebula yellow red orange green purple clouds in space full of stars
A composite image from NASA's Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes shows the Orion nebula in visible, ultraviolet, and infrared light. NASA/JPL-Caltech/STScI

This image is color-coded for different molecules. The yellow smudge at the center is home to four massive stars, which heat and ionize hydrogen and sulfur gas in the surrounding cloud of green. The red and orange represent clouds filled with carbon-rich organic molecules.

Trouvelot also turned his telescope to the Hercules constellation to capture the cosmic glow of its dense star cluster.

star cluster illustration

Hubble can zoom in much closer, though. The result is an exquisite, colorful portrait of more than 100,000 stars at the cluster's center.

messier 13 star cluster hundreds of stars bright yellow pink blue

Trouvelot captured another eerie glow here on Earth: the zodiacal light.

zodiacal light illustration

This triangular gleam appears on the horizon when dust orbiting the sun reflects its light towards the night side of Earth.

zodiacal light nighttime starry sky with yellow glow on the horizon
The zodiacal light in Skull Valley, Utah on March 1, 2021. NASA/JPL-Caltech

Trouvelot captured other celestial phenomenon that didn't require a telescope as well - like this comet that surprised the world in the summer of 1881.

comet illustration

Today, comets passing close to Earth are heavily documented by amateur and professional photographers.

comet neowise belarus
Comet Neowise streaks past an Orthodox church over the Turets, Belarus, early Tuesday, July 14, 2020. Sergei Grits/AP Photo

Trouvelot also sketched the paths of dozens of meteors - small space rocks that burn up in Earth's atmosphere as our planet passes through a field of space debris.

meteor shower illustration

In the drawing above, he was likely sketching the Leonids during their peak in mid-November. The shower comes from debris left in Earth's orbit by the Tempel-Tuttle comet.

That drawing resembles long-exposure images that capture the dozens, or even hundreds, of shooting stars that streak across the skies every hour during meteor showers.

Geminids meteor shower
The Geminids meteor shower over the Mexican volcano Popocatepetl in the Mexican state of Puebla in the early hours of December 14, 2004. Daniel Aguilar/Reuters

Trouvelot also took an interest in eclipses. He sketched this partial lunar eclipse, when Earth's shadow blocked much of the sun's light from hitting the moon, in October 1874.

partial lunar eclipse illustration

With modern cameras, the shadowed region of the moon during a partial eclipse appears much darker than in Trouvelot's pastel.

partial lunar eclipse yellow moon sliver
A partial lunar eclipse in Brasilia, Brazil, July 16, 2019. Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters

He also drew a total solar eclipse. It depicts the sun's outer atmosphere, called the corona, shining from behind the darkened moon.

total solar eclipse illustration

The corona is only visible during a total solar eclipse. In photographs, it's more subtle.

solar eclipse dark circle with sun corona shining around edges
The sun’s corona shines from behind the moon during a total solar eclipse on August 21, 2017. NASA/Carla Thomas

Trouvelot studied the Milky Way arcing across the night sky in 1874, 1875, and 1876 for this illustration.

milky way in the sky illustration

But today's astronauts can capture a far more vibrant and breathtaking Milky Way from space.

milky way iss
Astronaut Scott Kelly posted this photo of the Milky Way, as seen from the International Space Station, on August 9, 2015. NASA/Scott Kelly

Read the original article on Business Insider

High school students in Texas hold protest after transgender student allegedly denied access to women's locker room

A Texas high school saw dozens of students fill its halls on Wednesday to protest what they said was the school's decision to deny a transgender girl use of the girls' facilities, according to videos and pictures posted to social media.

Students at Temple High School were protesting in support of a 16-year-old student, a biological boy who identifies as a girl, who claimed faculty denied her use of the female locker room because it was for "actual girls," according to the teenager's Sept. 22 post on Instagram.

The protest occurred during the third class period, said Temple Independent School District spokeswoman Christine Parks.

LOUDOUN COUNTY RESIDENTS GATHER OUTSIDE SCHOOL BOARD MEETING TO PROTEST TRANSGENDER POLICY

The protest remained peaceful, but "additional security and Temple PD were on campus to help ensure the safety of staff and students," Parks said.

"Students have the right to peaceful protests," she said. "However, if such activities result in student behaviors such as skipping class or leaving a classroom without permission, then these Student Code of Conduct violations will result in consequences as outlined in the Code of Conduct."

The school returned to regular activity, according to a report, and the administration met with the student and her parents to examine the district's "Enrollment of Transgender Students guidelines."

As heat waves intensify, tens of thousands of US classrooms will be too hot for students to learn in


Paul Chinowsky, Professor of Environmental Design, University of Colorado Boulder
Thu, September 30, 2021, 

Climate change means more schools will need to install or upgrade cooling systems.
Bill Uhrich/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images

Rising temperatures due to climate change are causing more than just uncomfortably hot days across the United States. These high temperatures are placing serious stress on critical infrastructure such as water supplies, airports, roads and bridges.

One category of critical infrastructure being severely affected is the nation’s K-12 schools.

Ideally, the nation’s more than 90,000 public K-12 schools, which serve over 50 million students, should protect children from the sometimes dangerous elements of the outdoors such as severe storms or extreme temperatures.

But since so many of America’s schools are old and dilapidated, it’s the school buildings themselves that need protection – or at least to be updated for the 21st century.

Twenty-eight percent of the nation’s public schools were built from 1950 through 1969, federal data shows, while just 10% were built in 1985 or later.

As a researcher who studies the impact of climate change, I have measured its effects on infrastructure and health for over a decade. During that time, I’ve seen little attention focused on the effects of climate change on public schools.

Since 2019, climate scientist Sverre LeRoy, at the Center for Climate Integrity, and I have worked to determine if the nation’s schools are prepared for the heat waves on the approaching horizon.

Comparing the climate conditions under which U.S. schools were built with the projected conditions over the next two decades, we looked at the vulnerability of all K-12 schools to increasing temperatures. We determined whether current schools have air conditioning or not and whether they would be required to add air conditioning in the future.

The results of our study, “Hotter Days, Higher Costs: The Cooling Crisis in America’s Classrooms,” show that by 2025, more than 13,700 schools will need to install air conditioning, and another 13,500 will need to upgrade their existing systems.


Excessively hot days are occurring more regularly during the school year
 than in previous decades. 

Hot classrooms

Research has shown that high classroom temperatures can make it harder to learn. Hot school days cause difficulty in concentrating, sleepiness, a decrease in energy and even reduced memory capacity.

Local school districts have policies for extreme heat events. However, rising temperatures mean these guidelines are no longer limited to rare occurrences.

Over the past several years, schools across the U.S. are increasingly forced to take “heat days,” cutting school days short because of classrooms that are too hot for students to effectively learn.

This is happening in places that range from Denver to Baltimore and Cleveland.

Compounding the increase in temperatures is the national trend that seasonal temperatures are rising in both the spring and the fall. For example, both Rhode Island and New Jersey have seen average spring and fall temperatures rise over 3 degrees Fahrenheit (1.7 Celsius). Rather than high temperatures only occurring when students are on summer break, these heat events now occur regularly during the school year too. Students today in a greater number of cities are beginning and ending the school year in classrooms that often exceed 80 F (27 C).

Expensive upgrades

The problem of more hot days is due to average temperatures increasing over the past 40 years. The number of days with high temperatures has risen across the country, with notable increases in large northern cities. For example, Chicago has seen the number of days over 80 degrees during the school year increase from 27 in 1970 to 32 in 2020 and a projected 38 by 2025. These increases affect schools in two distinct ways.

Schools in the traditionally cooler north – especially older schools – will need to be retrofitted with new air conditioning systems at an accumulated cost of US$40 billion by 2025. For schools in the traditionally warmer South and West, many existing systems will need to be upgraded at a projected cost exceeding $400 million.

Temperature increases are especially costly in large cities such as Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles, where existing efforts and continued needs will result in outlays exceeding $500 million, $1.5 billion and $600 million, respectively. These large districts have a greater number of older buildings that require upgrades in electrical and structural systems to support new air conditioning systems.


For all schools – even ones that don’t require system upgrades – the additional costs of operating air conditioning systems to meet the new demands will exceed $1.4 billion per year.

An equity issue

Since school districts are dependent on local taxes or bond measures to finance the school system, districts in affluent areas have a greater opportunity to obtain funds through tax increases or voter-approved bond measures.

In contrast, districts located in less affluent counties – including Bell County, Kentucky; Scott County, Tennessee; and DeKalb County, Alabama – face the challenge of creating safe learning environments without a financial safety net. With household incomes for the entire district in the bottom 20% of national averages, or less than $43,000 per year, these districts are unable to absorb significant tax increases.

In this regard, classroom environments become an equity issue. While the increase in temperature may affect all children, the relative impact of the increase and the ability to adapt is not equal.


Protesters in 2019 demand equity for Denver students who go to school in old buildings without air conditioning. 

Unsustainable solutions

Increasingly, school districts are turning to individual window units to address classroom overheating. However, window units do not cool interior offices, cannot circulate and exchange air within the classrooms, and will not meet expected lifespans due to extensive use. Furthermore, they create uneven cooling patterns and classroom disturbance due to noise. While these solutions are popular from an initial budget perspective, they ultimately fail to solve the hot classroom crisis.

Where mechanical systems are not an option due to budgetary constraints, school districts are looking at altering the school year to start later or end earlier. However, there are limits to this approach because there are minimum requirements for the number of days that are in the school year. Some schools are even experimenting with remote learning as a response when extreme temperatures are an issue.

The bottom line for schools and their surrounding communities is that rising temperatures from climate change are a growing threat to school infrastructure. Schools will need additional funding to install or upgrade air conditioning systems, pay for increased energy usage or redesign school buildings to enhance natural cooling. Various cities and states argue that fossil fuel companies have a duty to pay these infrastructure costs associated with climate change.

The only other choice is for America’s students to continue to endure classrooms where it’s simply too hot to learn.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Paul Chinowsky, University of Colorado Boulder.

Read more:
America’s schools are crumbling – what will it take to fix them?

Paul Chinowsky receives funding from the Center for Climate Integrity.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Teaches GOP Basic Female Anatomy During Abortion Hearing




Ryan Grenoble
Thu, September 30, 2021


Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) stepped in to correct Republican legislators who argued Thursday that Texas’ new, highly restrictive abortion law doesn’t force women who have been raped to carry their pregnancies to term because they would know they’re pregnant before the law’s six-week cutoff.

The argument belies a fundamental misunderstanding about female anatomy — and the trauma of sexual assault. As she has had to do many times in the past, Ocasio-Cortez addressed the ignorance of her peers head-on.

“Once again we’re in a room of legislators who are attempting to legislate reproductive systems that they know nothing about,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a congressional hearing about the new law.

A person is considered six weeks pregnant when their period is just two weeks late, she noted. And a woman can miss or be late for their period for many reasons, including due to the stress of being sexually assaulted — once a survivor has even been able to come to terms with the fact that they have been assaulted.

“When you are raped, you don’t always know what happened to you,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “And I speak about this as a survivor. ... You are in so much shock at what happened to you, sometimes it takes years to realize what actually went on.”

She went on to say that her period could be inconsistent due to her weight as well, and that it was unrealistic for women to know they’re pregnant within that six-week window.

“You look at me funny, I’m two weeks late for my period. And you’re supposed to expect me to know that I’m pregnant?” she said. “Or the stress of a sexual assault — that makes you two weeks late for your period, whether you’re pregnant or not.”

Ocasio-Cortez also pointed out that rapes are “overwhelmingly” committed by someone the victim knows, even though some legislators would lead you to believe otherwise.

“This myth, that it’s some person lurking on a street or in a parking lot waiting to sexually assault you, that myth only benefits the abusers in power that want you to think that that’s how it happens,” she said, peering around the room. “It’s your friend. It’s a boyfriend. It’s a boss. It’s a legislator.”

Watch the exchange here:




Need help? Visit RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s website.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.




Texas Gov. Won't Budge On Abortion Exceptions When Chris Wallace Grills Him On 15,000 Rapes



Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She Feared Being Sexually Assaulted On Jan. 6



Ocasio-Cortez Gives Gov. Greg Abbott A Biology Lesson After ‘Disgusting' Rape Claim



Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Promises To 'Eliminate All Rapists'


ARACHNOPHOBIA TRIGGER

Palm-sized, invasive spiders 

are spinning golden webs 

across Georgia in 'extreme numbers'

A colorful, invasive species of spiders known for spinning gold-colored webs has been spreading across Georgia for years now, and scientists say they aren't going anywhere.

The Joro spider, a palm-sized arachnid with yellow stripes, is native to Asia, but has been out en masse this year in northern Georgia, less than a decade after they were first discovered there.

Reports from the University of Georgia peg the first sightings of the spider between 2013 and 2014. Scientists used genetic analysis to confirm those sightings as Joro spiders in 2015, and Georgia Museum of Natural History collections director Rick Hoebeke tracked them as they spread throughout the state.

University of Georgia entomologist Nancy Hinkle compares an adult female Joro spider to the size of her hand.
University of Georgia entomologist Nancy Hinkle compares an adult female Joro spider to the size of her hand.

Hoebeke told the University of Georgia his "best guess" for how the spiders made it to the U.S. is by shipping container.

The spider has since grown to "extreme numbers" in Georgia, with sightings in about 25 counties, according to Michele Hatcher of the University of Georgia Department of Entomology. The creepy crawlers have also been spotted in parts of South Carolina.

'Pest control'

With a length of almost three inches and eye-catching colors, the spider may seem a bit intimidating, but experts say they aren't interested in biting humans.

Entomologist Nancy Hinkle interacts with an adult female Joro spider, which she says provides "free pest control."
Entomologist Nancy Hinkle interacts with an adult female Joro spider, which she says provides "free pest control."

Rather, they can serve as valuable "pest control," says University of Georgia entomologist Nancy Hinkle.

“Joro spiders present us with excellent opportunities to suppress pests naturally, without chemicals," Hinkle said. "I’m trying to convince people that having zillions of large spiders and their webs around is a good thing."

The spiders feed on insects like mosquitoes, flies and even stink bugs.

“I think people need to make peace with Joros and accept the spiders because they are not going anywhere," Hoebeke said.

And despite their invasive species tag, Joro spiders don't need to be killed. In addition to the benefits they provide as pest control, experts believe their rapid population growth will soon be naturally suppressed.

The spiders will mostly die off in November, Hinkle says, but not before laying sacs full of eggs, possibly adding to their population come the springtime.

A female Joro spider is shown in Winterville, Georgia. The invasive spider is harmless to humans, and researchers are examining their impact on local ecology.
A female Joro spider is shown in Winterville, Georgia. The invasive spider is harmless to humans, and researchers are examining their impact on local ecology.

In their relatively short time in the U.S., scientists from the University of Georgia have not discovered any negative effects on local, native species, which was a concern about the Joro spider's arrival. Experts at Clemson University said they did not know if the species would bring negative impacts to the local ecology of nearby South Carolina.

DECLARE INDEPENDENCE, NATIONALIZE POWER CO.
Puerto Rico is on the brink of a power supply crisis. Protesters demand answers.



Nicole Acevedo
Fri, October 1, 2021, 

Puerto Rico residents will see another increase in their electricity bill, even though they already pay twice as much as mainland U.S. customers for unreliable service.

The increase comes the same week in which hundreds of thousands of Puerto Rican power customers were subjected to blackouts several days in a row.

The entities in charge of the island’s power supply, Luma Energy and the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, have blamed the outages on their inability to generate enough electricity to meet consumer demand, the electrical grid’s lack of proper maintenance and other unforeseen circumstances, including a “sargassum event“ where seaweed clogged the water filters for condensers.

Against this backdrop, over 30 community groups that are part of the Puerto Rican coalition Todos Somos Pueblo gathered in Old San Juan Friday evening to call attention to the ongoing energy crisis, and urge the government to cancel its contract with Luma, a private company working with the power authority, a public corporation.

“It’s not normal to have blackouts, it’s not normal that our students cannot study properly, it’s not normal to have to live with generators, it’s not normal to have to throw away groceries because the refrigerator can’t work without power," Ricardo Santos, a spokesperson for Todos Somos Pueblo at the protest, told Telemundo Puerto Rico in Spanish. "None of this is normal and it’s not normal that our electric bill goes up all the time. That's why we have to go to the streets."

“Cacerolazo” protests, consisting of the banging of pots and pans, echoed in Calle de la Resistencia (Resistance Street) as hundreds of people chanted "Fuera Luma" (Luma Out).


Luma and the power authority originally requested to charge customers 16 percent more for electricity. They argued the increase was necessary to make up for additional expenses attributed to an increased use of less efficient power plants that operate with fuels that are more expensive.

But the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau, an independent government office tasked with regulating both energy entities, only approved a 3 percent increase Thursday night after determining they can't "indiscriminately pass down unwise spending to consumers." The bureau also said the practice has contributed to "an inability to lower rates and improve service quality."

"I think the government felt the indignation of the people and they limited themselves to just a small increase. But we must remain vigilant," Santos said.

People in Puerto Rico will start paying an additional 1 cent per kilowatt of power they use, meaning that a customer who uses about 800 kilowatts will see an increase of roughly $5.60 on the monthly bill.

This increase is preceded by three others so far this year. Between January and September, consumers saw the price of electricity go up by nearly 33 percent.


These increases have greatly contributed to the U.S. territory’s high cost of living.

“The cost of electricity is one of the expenses straining most citizens and small businesses,” José Caraballo-Cueto, an economics expert and an associate professor at the University of Puerto Rico’s graduate business school in Rio Piedras, previously told NBC News.

In June, Luma took over the transmission and distribution operations of the power authority, which has struggled with blackouts after Hurricane Maria decimated the island's antiquated electric grid in 2017 — triggering the world's second longest blackout. Additionally, corruption and mismanagement within the power authority contributed to the island's decadelong financial crisis by racking up $9 billion in public debt, more than that of any other government agency in Puerto Rico.

Officials hoped Luma would spend billions of dollars in government funds to upgrade the battered electrical grid. But two months into the grid’s partial privatization, Puerto Ricans have experienced longer service restoration times, poor customer service, and voltage fluctuations that often damage appliances and other home electronics, according to an analysis from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, a nonprofit group that conducts research and analyses on financial and economic issues related to energy and the environment.


We’re tired of excuses and technical explanations. The Luma company has to go,” Pedro Ortiz, a Catholic priest who is part of Todos Somos Pueblo, said in Spanish during a press conference Thursday.

The power authority is still in charge of controlling power generation units on the island.

Todos Somos Pueblo is planning a follow-up protest Oct. 15 on Expreso Las Américas, Puerto Rico's busiest highway.

"We need the people of Puerto Rico, who have asked us to be a voice and to organize a greater combative presence, to voice their outrage," Ortiz said. "This campaign to sell our country, to privatize it, it's not going to stop. We, the people of Puerto Rico, are the ones who are going to stop it."
Nikola signs deal to build hydrogen fueling stations across North America


Igor Bonifacic
·Contributing Writer
Thu, September 30, 2021

EV automaker Nikola has signed a memorandum of understanding with Opal Fuels to build and operate hydrogen fueling stations across North America. Under the preliminary agreement, the two companies will work to co-develop the technology necessary to accelerate the adoption of fuel-cell electric vehicles. They also plan to explore the use of renewable natural gas.

Initially, they say they plan to focus on infrastructure for private shipping companies before looking at whether it makes sense to make something similar available to the public. To date, Opal has built more than 350 renewable natural gas stations.

“Today marks another important step forward in Nikola’s stated energy infrastructure plans and its focus on providing hydrogen fueling services to customers,” said Pablo Koziner, the president of Nikola’s energy and commercial operations.

The announcement comes just months after federal prosecutors indicted Nikola founder and former executive chairman Trevor Milton of fraud. Among other allegations, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused Milton of falsely claiming the company was producing hydrogen at four times less than the market rate.





Phi Nhung, Vietnamese American musical icon, passes away from COVID-19



Bryan Ke
Fri, October 1, 2021

On Tuesday, Vietnamese American singer Phi Nhung passed away after a month-long battle withCOVID-19 at Cho Ray Hospital in Saigon.

Heartbreaking news: Before she passed away, the 51-year-old singer was undergoing multiple different treatments, including extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) intervention, for COVID-19, according toVN Express.

Many Vietnamese celebrities shared positive messages and prayers for Nhung days before her death, including Vietnamese -American singer Trizzie Phuong Trinh, Morning Express reported.

Trinh posted a picture of her and the late singer with the caption: “Phi Nhung, you must not give up! I said that if I want to be like you, I must be strong. Wendy and her children really need you, do you understand??”

Upon hearing about her death, fans took to social media to mourn the loss of the Vietnamese music icon.

Nhung was supposed to travel to the U.S. to reunite with her daughter but had delayed her plans in order to volunteer in Vietnam to help the Southeast Asian country's battle against the pandemic.

Doctors described Nhung as being a fearless fighter until her final breath. Before her death, she worried for her adopted children living in a pagoda in Southern Binh Phuoc Province. Nhung has a daughter in the U.S. and 23 adopted daughters in Vietnam

About the Vietnamese-American icon: Nhung came from a family with no background in music. She was born in April of 1972 to a Vietnamese mother and an American serviceman father.

The then -17-year-old Nhung moved and settled with her relatives in Tampa, Florida, where she struggled to make a living working as a waitress. However, she did not let her passion as a singer fade.

She eventually moved to California to start her singing career after being persuaded by Trinh. Nhung was reportedly a single mother and working as a seamstress when she relocated with only $300 in her pocket, according to Morning Express.

Nhung sent her daughter to stay with an acquaintance while she lived with Trinh in California. She worked at a CD store during the day and as a waitress at night, all while learning how to sing with a northern Vietnamese intonation.

Nhung then released her first singles “Noi Buon Hoa Phuong” (“Phoenix Flower’s Sadness”) and “Noi Lai Tinh Xua” (“Rekindled Old Love”) two years later. Her 1999 music video for “Ly Con Sao Bac Lieu” (“Song About Bac Lieu Blackbird”) became a massive hit on release.

She was also a frequent performer on the wildly popular “Paris by Night” musical variety series.

Besides being an iconic singer in Vietnam, Nhung also became known for her philanthropy in her last years as she sought to help a lot of people from mountainous areas and flooded regions. Nhung also cooked and gave food to the poor in Ho Chi Minh City during the pandemic.

Featured Image via HƯƠNG TÌNH XƯA (left), Morning Express (right)



SPIRIT ANIMAL
'Nobody knows how rare it is': Mississippi woman encounters blond timber rattlesnake

Brian Broom, Mississippi Clarion Ledger
Fri, October 1, 2021

A Mississippi woman was collecting berries in the woods on Sept. 25 when she came across a venomous snake so rare there really aren't statistics on it.

Now, the blond timber rattlesnake is safe in captivity, and soon the public will be able to see it.

"Me and my friend Matt Brewer and my twin girls were picking up muscadines," said Danielle Ladner of Yazoo County. "I was going to make muscadine jelly.

"We were fixing to leave and loading up, and I bent over to pick up the muscadines and I looked up and there he is — 2 feet from my face at eye level. He was right there."


While not a true albino, a rare genetic condition caused this timber rattlesnake found by Danielle Ladner of Yazoo County to almost appear white and the snake is considered so rare, the odds of encountering one aren't known.

Ladner said her reaction was terror.

"I don't do good with snakes," Ladner said. "I screamed.

"I'm scared of them. One of my twins is fearless so I went into mama-mode to get her away from it."

Ladner grabbed her adventurous 4-year-old daughter and jumped in the nearby utility vehicle; the other girl was scared and already inside. Ladner said the blond snake was like nothing she'd ever seen and decided to photograph it, even though she could barely hold her phone steady because of her shaking.

Protecting the rare snake

Ladner said the photos were sent to a herpetologist who explained it was very rare. When she realized what an unusual encounter she was involved in, the animal began to grow on her.

"I spent all Saturday night talking with my daddy about what was best for the snake," she said. "It's not like a normal snake. I didn't want him to die."

Ladner called the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks to report the snake and personnel came the following afternoon to find it, but were unsuccessful. After feeling certain it was still in the area, Ladner and her father continued the search and within minutes, it was located and agency personnel returned to retrieve it.

Snake is not a true albino

Herpetologist Terry Vandeventer of Terry, Mississippi, explained the snake has one of two possible genetic conditions; T positive albinism or hypomelanism. Both cause a limited range of colors in a snake's skin. So, the snake is not a true albino because other colors remain. Regardless of which condition it is, he said the odds of encountering one are so low they can't be calculated.

"It's absolutely a rare thing," Vandeventer said. "Several thousand babies would be born before one pops up."

So, the odds at that point are one in several thousand, but they drop from there because the snake isn't wearing camouflage like its normal siblings and is more susceptible to predation.

"In a normal litter, most don't make it," Vandeventer said. "The vast majority of baby snakes don't make it, but this one did. Nobody knows how rare it is."
Where and when to see the snake

The snake was taken to the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science in Jackson where the cold-blooded reptile received a warm welcome.

"He's very docile," Jamie Merrill, associate conservation biologist with the museum, said. "Since he's been here he hasn't rattled once.

"He's very inquisitive and watches what we do. I'm already in love."

Although it's at the museum, it will be several weeks before the public can see it.
Limiting Energy Emissions Is Crucial to Avoid the Worst of Climate Change


Fatih Birol
Fri, October 1, 2021

Fatih Birol, executive director, IEA 
Credit - Simon Dawson—Bloomberg/Getty Images

Scientists tell us that if we want to have a livable planet in coming decades, then emissions need to come down to net zero by 2050. As around three-quarters of the emissions that cause climate change come from energy, we at the International Energy Agency have turned this net-zero target into a road map for the energy sector. What needs to happen? We have described more than 400 milestones: for example, in 2030, 60% of cars sold should be electric vehicles, compared with 5% today. By 2040, half of all flights should be using sustainable fuels and the world needs to have phased out all coal and oil power plants where emissions aren’t captured.

If we do these things, are we sure we will keep the global temperature rise to 1.5ºC? The answer is, I’m not sure. But, even if we don’t succeed entirely, if we do our best and follow this road map, we will still help avoid the worst of climate change. If we cannot reach 1.5º, then 1.6º or 1.7º is still far better than 3.5º, where the consequences for our planet will be catastrophic. This is a race, not between countries, but a race against time. —As told to Justin Worland