Still planning a trip to Florida? 

More evidence the Sunshine State will try to kill you

Bill Wolcott, Rockland/Westchester Journal News

Tue, February 1, 2022, 

Who doesn't love jumping on a plane to Florida to escape the misery of winter? There's the sun, the warmth, the beautiful Atlantic Ocean on one side and the warm Gulf of Mexico waters on the other side.

Before you dip a toe in that water, just know that Florida, once again, ranked No. 1 in unprovoked shark bites in 2021, according to Ed Killer, outdoors writer for the TC Palm.

In a Jan. 24 story, Killer highlighted data released by the International Shark Attack File (ISAF).

Chicks dig scars: Florida man gets bit by shark while surfing; Can't wait to get back in the water

Sharks being sharks

Shark bites are one of those one in a million occurrences. However, data released by the Gainesville-based organization revealed suggests that the rate may be a bit higher:

• 73: Unprovoked shark bites worldwide

• 47: Unprovoked shark bites in U.S. waters (ranked 1st)

• 28: Unprovoked shark bites in Florida (ranked 1st)

• 17: Unprovoked shark bites in Volusia County (ranked 1st)

• 51%: Surfing, activity when bit by a shark (ranked 1st)

• 11: Fatalities worldwide, 9 unprovoked

Researchers with ISAF, which is a division of the University of Florida's Florida Museum of Natural History, scour media reports for news of shark bites, include reports from field researchers and verify with medical personnel the veracity of the information. The ISAF team investigated 137 alleged shark-human interactions in 2021 to confirm the 73 unprovoked bites and an additional 39 provoked bites.

"Unprovoked attacks" are defined as incidents in which a live human is bitten in the shark’s natural habitat with no human provocation of the shark, according to the report. "Provoked attacks" occur when a human initiates interaction with a shark in some way, including spearfishers, divers that harassed or tried to touch sharks, people that tried to feed, unhook or remove sharks from a fishing net.

Planning a trip to Florida this winter?: Be careful when you're outside

Shark fatalities higher

Eleven fatalities are alarming, up from 10 in 2020, which was the highest since 2013. It's about twice the annual average of five, but there were two in 2019 and one in 2018.

The majority of the fatalities once again occurred in Australia, where three people lost their lives. New Caledonia (2) and New Zealand (1) meant six of the fatalities took place in the Southern Pacific Ocean, where great white sharks, the largest carnivorous shark, prey on seals. One fatality occurred in the U.S. in California on Dec. 24 when an unresponsive male surfer was pulled from the surf at Morro Bay. It was the 29th unprovoked shark bite and second shark bite fatality in the state in the past 10 years.

Kitesurfer Stephen Shafer, 38, of Stuart, was the most recent victim of an unprovoked and fatal shark bite in Florida. He was kite surfing Feb. 3, 2010, when he was accidentally bitten on the thigh by a suspected bull shark and died of severe blood loss.

The ISAF reports the odds of being killed by a shark are lower than 1 in 3.7 million.

"This year’s increase in fatalities does not necessarily constitute a shift in the long-term trends. Fatality rates have been declining for decades, reflecting advances in beach safety, medical treatment and public awareness. While the incidence of fatal bites in 2021 was higher than is typical, we do not consider this cause for alarm. At this time, there is no evidence that the recent spike in fatalities is linked to any natural phenomena. Rather it is likely the consequence of chance, a conclusion underscored by the fact that the number of unprovoked bites is in line with recent five-year trends."

Tourists and transplants beware

The shark bite news follows in wake of a recent column on the perils that await the unwary who set foot in the Sunshine State.

There's the “tree of death," manchineel tree, whose bark, wood, small limbs, sap and leaves are all deadly poisons.

🦎 Falling iguanas possible this weekend — especially Saturday night!🦎 pic.twitter.com/s2SGQDS8vW

— Brian Shields, WFTV (@BrianWFTV) January 26, 2022

Then there's the alligators. Authorities in Florida released footage of a missing woman swimming and wading in an alligator-infested river before she vanished in early January.

According to Jan. 7 article by the New York Post, hikers say they spotted the missing woman in Wekiva Springs State Park on Dec. 18 — a day after her family last saw her.

Possibly even more dangerous are the wild hogs of Florida and their nasty tusks.

Then there are three kinds of poisonous snakes, poisonous Cane toads, large green iguanas that can fall out of trees, and green anacondas.

Stay or go?

The prospect of all those scary things lying in wait for you in Florida is almost enough to make you want to cancel any trips to Florida.

I mean, what do we have to worry about in winter, other than blizzards, black ice, lake effect storms, hypothermia, bad roads, falling through ...

Outdoors writers Ed Killer and Len Lisenbee contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Traveling to Florida? The Sunshine State will try to kill you

Florida forecast calls for cold weather – and stunned iguanas falling from trees

Marina Pitofsky, USA TODAY

Fri., January 28, 2022, 

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s an iguana falling out of a tree?

The forecast for parts of Florida is looking colder in the coming days, with temperatures Sunday morning expected to range from 32 degrees or below in inland portions of South Florida. Near the coast, temperatures are forecast in the mid-to-upper 30s.

Brian Shields, a meteorologist at WFTV in Orlando, warned that iguanas can slow down and become immobile when temperatures drop below 40 degrees. As they slow down, the animals can fall from trees onto the ground.

This isn’t the first time that the reptiles getting too chilly and tumbling down from trees has been in the forecast. In 2020, the National Weather Service in Miami issued an unofficial warning to residents to look out for “falling iguanas” during a cold snap.

But why do green iguanas in Florida have such a dramatic reaction to cold weather? Sarah Funck, nonnative fish and wildlife program coordinator for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, explained to USA TODAY that iguanas are not native to Florida, so they are unable to tolerate cooler temperatures.

“Depending on temperature and the amount of time cold temperatures are sustained, iguanas can be cold-stunned or even killed. When we reach near-freezing or freezing temperatures, iguanas can sometimes fall from trees and lie stiff on the ground,” Funck said, explaining that the animals’ muscle control can shut down in those lower temperatures.

As temperatures warm up, the creatures usually "recover fairly quickly,” Funck said.

She also explained that other reptiles native to Florida have adapted to the state’s weather and can better tolerate colder temperatures.

Green iguanas are native to South America, Central America and the Caribbean, and they arrived in Florida through the pet trade. They were first reported in the state in the 1960s, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

2020: Falling iguana alert! Cold weather in Florida may cause iguanas to fall out of trees. But they're not dead.

Reviewed: Unexpected cold snap or snow? You can use these common household items to remove snow and ice

Funck also emphasized that well-meaning individuals should not try to bring the cold-stunned iguanas into their homes or vehicles.

“Iguanas are wild animals, and once they recover and warm up, they could act defensively. Iguanas have sharp teeth, claws and a long tail that they may use to protect themselves when acting defensively which can potentially be a safety risk,” she said.

But the potential safety risk hasn’t stopped meteorologists and others from sharing run-ins with fallen iguanas and discussing the strange phenomenon on social media.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Florida iguanas will fall from trees in cold weather: weekend forecast

White House says judge Fed nominee Raskin on her credentials, not marriage


FILE PHOTO: Sarah Bloom Raskin, in her role as Deputy Treasury Secretary, participates in an open meeting of the President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability for Young Americans in Washington

Mon, January 31, 2022
By Jeff Mason and Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Monday rejected concerns that Sarah Bloom Raskin would be unable to maintain independence at the Federal Reserve given that her husband led impeachment proceedings against former President Donald Trump.

Raskin, U.S. President Joe Biden's nominee as the Fed's vice chair for supervision, should be judged on her "impeccable credentials" and not her marriage to Representative Jamie Raskin, who served as the lead Democratic prosecutor for the unsuccessful 2021 impeachment trial, Psaki told reporters.

"I think she can stand on her own qualifications, not just because she's a woman, but because she's done a lot in her career," Psaki said. "She has been said by many to be the most qualified person to be nominated to this role, which I think is probably more important than who she's married to."

Raskin, a former Fed governor and senior Treasury Department official who is strongly backed by progressive Democrats, has become a lightning rod for criticism from business groups and fiscal conservatives for her views on climate change.

Psaki told reporters Raskin had pledged her commitment to the independent role of the Federal Reserve and would work with her colleagues to mitigate a range of risks, if confirmed.

"Just like any nominee, she should be judged by qualifications," Psaki said. "Her experience and her impeccable credentials were the determinant in her being nominated for this role, and I think it's a little questionable for anyone to raise otherwise."

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce last week sent an unprecedented letter to lawmakers https://www.reuters.com/business/us-chamber-issues-rare-warning-fed-nominee-raskin-citing-oil-gas-views-2022-01-28 raising concerns about Raskin and her calls for federal regulators to transition financing away from the fossil fuel industry.

On Monday, 24 members of the fiscally conservative State Financial Officers Foundation, representing 21 states, urged Biden to withdraw Raskin's nomination, warning that what they called her "radical banking and economic views" could shut oil and gas companies out of bank loans and send energy costs sharply higher.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown last week said he met with Raskin and Biden's nominees for two other Fed jobs, and said there was no question that they were qualified.

Administration officials say Raskin's views on climate change are in line with public comments by Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

But the top Republican on the panel, Pat Toomey, has blasted Raskin for what he called "demonstrated hostility" toward the oil and gas sector.

The committee, which must approve the Fed nominees before they are considered by the full Senate, will hold a confirmation hearing on Thursday for Raskin and two Black economists nominated for the board, Lisa Cook and Philip Jefferson.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Lincoln Feast.)

Commercial driver's license insufficiency hits western North Dakota


Jackie Jahfetson, The Dickinson Press, N.D.
Mon, January 31, 2022, 

Jan. 31—DICKINSON — The American Trucking Association release an annual report, and in 2022 they estimate that the truck driver shortage will surpass historic highs as the industry desperately needs more than 80,000 drivers to maintain the status quo. This figure alone highlights the high demand for drivers based as freight and logistical chains remain gridlocked across much of the country.

Over the past few months, the shortages of qualified and experienced truck drivers have created significant issues in North Dakota leading to the slowing of distribution of goods, which has greatly impacted supply chains for businesses. This issue hit home recently with the closure of two major milk distributors in North Dakota: Lakeview Dairy and Red River Dairy.

On Jan. 25, Gov. Doug Burgum announced an effort to remedy the problem by waiving portions of the U.S. Department of Transportation's regulations concerning how many hours drivers of commercial vehicles transporting milk can work.

The news comes as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration implemented new guidelines requiring that all entry level driver training across the country require students to have a minimum of 40 hours — practical, class and behind-the-wheel time. The change will go into effect on Feb. 7.

Street Operations Manager David Clem addressed the new requirements and how the city plans to maintain cohesive operations under the new laws.

"... As a city... when you're trying to hire employees that don't have a CDL (commercial driver's license)... well, there's a cost to that. And some of these training schools, they can be pretty costly," Clem said.

The city entered into a one-year contract with J. J. Keller & Associates — based out of Wisconsin — which will allow Dickinson to become a certified private entity to train its employees while maintaining compliance with the new rules.

The city has sent four of its employees to become certified trainers who will return and begin the process of training new hires. The program will be accredited through the Federal Motor Carriers Act.

Once those new employees complete the proper training, they will be able to take the final test at the DMV to obtain their CDL — required to operate many of the larger vehicles owned by the city. The Public Works' budget will bear the $15,000 cost needed to launch this effort and are expected, by the end of February, to have those trainers ready to go.

Though Clem said they'd prefer to hire people with a CDL out of the gate, that's not always the case. Having the ability to adapt and train new hires in-house will be beneficial moving forward, he added.

"... We figure this gives us a little opportunity to give back to our current employees and also bring new employees in and show the value of us, (saying), 'Hey, we're going to spend the time (and) the effort to train you.' So hopefully the longevity is there," he said. "A lot of people are out there chasing that money. So it makes it a little tough on entities like the city and little small businesses. So we're trying to just get ahead of the curve."

In Public Works, the city has approximately 56 employees that operate various classes —
A, B and C — of CDLs from tractor-trailers, straight trucks to tank trucks. These operators range from all the divisions of Public Works, including Buildings and Grounds, Cemetery, Forestry, Recycling, Solid Waste, Storm Water, Street, Waste Water and Water Distribution.

"Our operators just don't operate the equipment. They do everything. They go from trucks to trailers, they haul equipment, we do all kinds of things. So you got to be robust... When you come to the city and in Public Works, you can be on a blade one day, you can be in a dump truck, you can be in a snow plow. And so it's... (an) advantage if you have a CDL or we help you obtain a CDL," Clem noted.

To recruit city operators, it can be a challenge especially in the oil and gas market with competitive wages, Clem said, adding that he spent more than 28 years in the oil and gas industry.

"A lot of the younger generation, they're chasing that money and it's tough. They're looking at now, not the future. I think we've all been there. I'm 50, so I remember I chased the money back in the day too," he said. "But coming to the city, you can make it a career. You can be here for 20 (to) 30 years."

The city has a 90-day probation period for new hires and that gives those employees the time to obtain their CDL if they haven't already done so, Clem noted. With four upcoming trainers on site, the city will be able to document that training via the national database, which will "hold everybody to the same standard."

"That really puts a kibosh on backyard training, so to speak. So now, it's regulated — your classroom hours, you're practical, your behind-the-wheel — it's all regulated," he said.

Clem noted that the trucking industry has affected the city of Dickinson from week delays in shipments from street line paint.

"Trucking is what keeps North America alive and there's a lot of regulations. I'm not disagreeing with any of them. But at the end of the day, it makes it tough when you don't have the trucks on the road, bringing the material that you ordered... (It's) just like rail cars. If you don't have rail getting your oil out and you don't want to put it into pipelines, what's oil going to do? It's going to sit," Clem said. "So transportation is very big."

Chief Street Maintenance Operator Darryl Wehner, who's been with the City of Dickinson for 36 years, received his CDL through Dickinson State University and began his career at the city shortly thereafter.

"A lot of the stuff that we're going to have to teach in this doesn't apply to the city because we're not driving over the road... We're going to be teaching our guys more than we need to know for here, but it's a good thing... It also helps all of our drivers understand what other CDL drivers have," Wehner said.

ORNL tech licensed for 3D printing of reactor parts

The Oak Ridger
Mon, January 31, 2022

Oak Ridge National Laboratory's method for 3D printing nuclear reactor parts has been licensed by Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp., or USNC.

"USNC will incorporate this method to boost their mission to develop and deploy nuclear-based, energy-generating equipment that is safe, commercially competitive and simple to use," an ORNL news release

The technology uses a sophisticated additive manufacturing technique to print refractory materials, which are highly resistant to extreme heat and degradation, into components with complex shapes needed for advanced nuclear reactor designs.

The long-time Seattle-based collaborator also plans to expand its operations into East Tennessee to take advantage of proximity to ORNL’s expertise while scaling up production of specialty components for nuclear and industrial applications.

“This technology is ideal for manufacturing structure and core components for USNC’s advanced reactor designs,” Kurt Terrani, USNC executive vice president, said in release.

Terrani came to USNC from ORNL, where he was technical director of the lab’s Transformational Challenge Reactor program, leveraging expertise at the lab’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility with leadership in nuclear technology to pilot the concept of 3D printing components for energy applications.

“It’s rewarding to see the transition from basic concept to a more mature technology that is actively being developed and deployed by our industry partners,” Jeremy Busby, director of ORNL’s Nuclear Energy and Fuel Cycle division, stated in the release. “This is exactly the sort of impact that ORNL strives to make for our energy portfolio.”

USNC’s existing advanced nuclear systems, Terrani said in the release, are designed to deliver the highest levels of safety and reliability. While the company is currently meeting that goal, “we don’t stop there.”

“We also utilize materials in our reactor cores that can withstand very harsh environments and high temperatures and don’t result in any degradation,” he stated. “We engineer multiple redundant barriers against any potential release of radiation through fundamental application of nuclear engineering and materials science.”

USNC’s refractory material of choice for nuclear reactor core components is silicon carbide, a high-temperature-resistant ceramic that has been tested and proven to be radiation tolerant. Yet, traditional machining of silicon carbide into parts for a reactor are so time-intensive and expensive that it’s nearly impossible.

The ORNL-developed alternative combines binder jet printing as the additive manufacturing technique and a ceramic production process called chemical vapor infiltration, which will allow USNC to make components more efficiently with desired complex shapes, such as fluid channels in a heat exchanger.

“This is the holy grail of additive, that you can do things faster, that are in geometries that were previously very difficult or impossible with conventional manufacturing methods,” Terrani stated.

USNC’s new Pilot Fuel Manufacturing, or PFM, facility will be located at the East Tennessee Technology Park in Oak Ridge, which is home of the former K-25 plant and mere minutes from ORNL’s main campus. The energy company plans to continue its collaboration with ORNL.

“We look forward to continuing our strong relationship with ORNL,” said Francesco Venneri, chief executive officer of USNC. “Proximity to the lab and its world-class scientists and facilities allow us easy access to expertise in reactor core technologies and additive manufacturing, as well as the latest in radiation, fuels and materials research, all of which benefit USNC’s commitment to bring safe, reliable and secure nuclear energy to world markets.”

USNC and ORNL also signed a Memorandum of Understanding in September on advanced nuclear fuel and reactor development activities.

Along with Terrani, other inventors of this technology include ORNL’s Brian Jolly and Michael Trammel. Enabled through ORNL’s entrepreneurial leave program, Jolly and Trammell joined USNC as group leaders for Chemical Vapor Processing and Additive Manufacturing, respectively, to participate in full commercialization of their intellectual property.

The Transformational Challenge Reactor program was supported by DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy and made possible by the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at ORNL. The MDF is supported by the Advanced Manufacturing Office within the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

This article originally appeared on Oakridger: ORNL tech licensed for 3D printing of reactor parts

DIRECT ACTION! WOBBLE THE JOB

Employees quit over 'catch the virus' promotion at Washington state bar

Mon, January 31, 2022


Employees at a Washington state bar quit over their former employers' "catch the virus" COVID-19 promotion.

Vessel Taphouse owner Steve Hartley told The Daily Herald that four employees quit their jobs and three bands refused to play at the pirate-themed bar over the promotion.

The bar promoted a concert on Jan. 22 by urging ​​bargoers to bring proof of a positive COVID-19 test to get $4 off of their tickets.

"Come see the show, maybe catch the virus, or just stay home and whine," Vessel Taphouse said in a now-deleted Facebook post. "Tickets 10 bucks or 6 with proof of omicron positive test. Have you had enough???"

Atrocity Girl, one of the band's billed to play that night, released a statement on Facebook pulling out of the event.

"After talking it over, we feel really disturbed that this post was ever allowed to be made. We do not condone this behavior and do not think COVID is a joke. While we want to play and love being out there, we encourage everyone to stay safe!" the band wrote.

Atrocity Girl frontman Johnny Angel told CBS affiliate KIRO that he was shocked by the promotion.

"I was appalled," Angel said in a statement. "I was really, really disappointed that anybody could ever really make a post like that."

Hartley said the promotion was "an ill-advised attempt at humor" and that the employees responsible have been fired from the bar, according to The Daily Herald.

"We were getting comments that we were trying to infect the public," Hartley said. "Clearly we have no interest in that. People aren't going to come and drink if they get sick, and we know that."

With the highly transmissible omicron variant now accounting for nearly all coronavirus cases in the U.S., the country was reporting upwards of 600,000 daily cases and nearly 2,000 daily deaths as of last week.

According to Johns Hopkins University data, the U.S. has seen more than 885,000 COVID-19-related deaths since the pandemic began.

This new climate change solution could be tested on Whatcom, Skagit farms


Kaitlyn Bernauer for the Yakima Herald-Republic/AP

Ysabelle Kempe
Mon, January 31, 2022

A new tool to fight climate change is coming to rural Whatcom and Skagit counties. But the planet isn’t the only one that stands to benefit — farmers could see healthier soil and more productive fields.

The Whatcom-based organization Kulshan Carbon Trust is launching a pilot program in the coming months to experiment with a type of charcoal called biochar. When this substance is spread on the land, it has been shown to suck planet-warming greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere while boosting crop yield and tree growth.

The Trust, started in 2021 by three Bellingham residents, confirmed Tuesday, Jan. 25, that the pilot project has secured grant funding of $60,000 over two years from the Regen Foundation. This is the nonprofit arm of the Regen Network, a company that works to give economic value to ecosystem services.

The Trust is hoping that Whatcom and Skagit farmers can eventually get paid to generate “carbon credits” by applying biochar to their fields, much as they apply fertilizer.

“Carbon credits” are generated when landowners change their land management practices to store more greenhouse gases, which are the primary driver of human-caused climate change. These carbon credits are typically “verified” by a third-party organization. Individuals, companies or governments can purchase these verified credits to “offset” their own climate pollution.

The Trust wants to create a local “carbon marketplace,” in which people and organizations can purchase carbon credits generated within driving distance.

“There is something very disconnected about companies, municipalities and individuals buying carbon credits for projects around the world — somewhere you’ve never been and don’t know of,” said Jessa Clark, a Trust co-founder and sustainability expert who graduated from Stanford University. “It’s hard to verify ‘Is this a good thing?’ There are lots of examples of carbon offsets gone wrong — not happening, exploiting communities.”

The other co-founders are Steve Hollenhorst, former dean of Western Washington University’s College of the Environment, and Howard Sharfstein, a former corporate sustainability leader and retired environmental attorney. The organization has applied for nonprofit status but has yet to be approved.

How it works

Here’s the Trust’s plan: When a logging company harvests a forest for timber, it is left with “slash piles” of brush and woody debris. These slash piles are often burned out in the open, polluting the air, or the pile is left to decompose, slowly releasing the potent greenhouse gas methane into the atmosphere.

The Trust wants those piles of woody debris to instead be burned in a low-oxygen environment to create charcoal rather than ash. This “biochar” will then be added to compost piles to “charge up with nutrients and microbes” that are good for soil health, Clark explained. The end result will be a rich, dark soil-like substance.

The biochar is then transported to local farms to be spread on the earth. (It can also be used in forests, but the Trust is focusing primarily on farmland for the pilot program.)

“Biochar has been shown to be stable in soils for at least a thousand years,” Clark said. “It’s a permanent form of carbon sequestration with many co-benefits.”

Carbon sequestration refers to the long-term storage of carbon dioxide. With the planet’s average temperature projected to increase until at least 2050 even if humans rapidly cut greenhouse gas emissions, carbon sequestration is increasingly being recognized by scientists and leaders as crucial in dealing with human-caused climate change.

Biochar has garnered recognition as a climate solution over the last decade, but it’s not a new technology: Indigenous communities living near the Amazon River in South America are believed to have used it as a soil supplement thousands of years ago, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service.

The common agriculture practice of tilling, or turning over soil before planting new crops, reduces carbon in the soil, and biochar’s high carbon content can help restore that loss. This improves the soil’s ability to hold water, making it more productive, according to the Utah State University Forestry Extension.

That means that biochar could help with Whatcom agriculture’s desperate need for more water — studies have shown it can reduce the amount of water needed for irrigation. It could also reduce toxic runoff polluting local waters, since charcoal absorbs excess nutrients, Clark said.

“We see huge potential,” Clark said. “The challenge with it is that it is all very, very context-based. We don’t know how well it will work until we try it.”

The primary barrier to widespread biochar use is economics — a lot of biochar production is “boutique,” Clark explained. Plants are specifically grown to turn into biochar, which raises the cost of the final product. The Trust’s model is different.

“Because we are working to almost exclusively use waste streams, we are hoping that will reduce biochar costs a lot,” Clark said.

Looking for partners

The Trust is still conducting outreach and determining which logging companies, composting companies and farmers are interested in participating. The organization knows its plan can come across as wonky and complex, and Clark said most of the unenthusiastic responses she’s gotten so far are from community members who say they don’t understand the process.

But if it is successful, the project could have wide-ranging impacts. Not only could it be scaled up locally, but it can be used as a model for communities across the nation, said Trust Co-founder Sharfstein.

The Trust has plans to launch another project later this year testing more natural solutions to climate change.

“Biochar is a great initial opportunity,” Sharfstein said. “But what we want to do is, in sequence, prove different natural climate solutions.”

The Trust urges any community members with comments or questions to reach out using the contact form at kulshancarbontrust.org.

Scott Underwood: Was Oumuamua more than a huge space rock?



Scott Underwood, The Herald Bulletin, Anderson, Ind.
Mon, January 31, 2022

Jan. 31—In October 2016, a reddish cigar-shaped rock, a quarter-mile across and as long as two miles, tumbled through our solar system.

The rock, dubbed "Oumuamua" (Hawaiian for "scout") by astronomers, came from the direction of the star Vega and had passed closest to the sun in September before it was discovered by telescope from Maui.

Such objects traverse our heavens periodically, but this one was different. It surprised scientists with its jerking motions as it left the solar system, prompting speculation that it was a strange comet, propelled perhaps by evaporating gases on its surface.

But astronomers detected no evidence of gases on Oumuamua.

A year after Oumuamua left our solar system, Avi Loeb, chairman of Harvard's astronomy department, co-published a paper in the widely respected Astrophysical Journal of Letters. Loeb argued that Oumuamua might have been evidence of alien technology.

The paper raised eyebrows and elicited cynicism from many of Loeb's colleagues, but he has persisted.

Recently, Loeb continued to push his theory, publishing a new book, "Extraterrestrial," in which he pleads for humanity to keep an open mind about the possibility of intelligent life among the stars.

"Are we, both scientists and lay people, ready? Is human civilization ready to confront what follows our accepting the plausible conclusion, arrived at through evidence-backed hypotheses, that terrestrial life isn't unique and perhaps not even particularly impressive?" Loeb asks in the book's introduction.

"I fear the answer is no, and that prevailing prejudice is a cause for concern."

To drive home his point, Loeb points to the 17th century, when church officials refused to look into Galileo's telescope, fearing that they'd see evidence contrary to their view of man, the world and God.

Loeb's point is salient. If we don't believe that something could exist, we're not likely to see it. On the other hand, believing without healthy cynicism can cause us to imagine something that doesn't exist.

In June 2021, just after a U.S. intelligence report about UFOs was released, the Pew Research Center published a survey showing that 65% of Americans believe it's likely that intelligent life exists beyond Earth. Just over half of respondents said that UFOs reported by members of the military are definitely or probably evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence.

I doubt that UFOs come from outer space, but the fruits of scientific exploration — particularly the discovery of Earthlike planets in other solar systems — increasingly point to the overwhelming likelihood that intelligent life is scattered across the universe.

It would also seem highly probable that intelligent life that is much different than ours and doesn't require Earthlike conditions exists out there, as well.

Who's to say whether Oumuamua might have been an alien vessel? Like Loeb, I prefer to ponder that it might have been.

Editor Scott Underwood's column is published Mondays in The Herald Bulletin. Contact him at scott.underwood@heraldbulletin.com 

Activision exec tries to dissuade employees from unionizing in a leaked Slack message


SOPA Images via Getty Images


Jessica Conditt
·Senior Editor
Mon, January 31, 2022

Since a group of 34 quality assurance testers at Raven Software voted to unionize earlier this month, the studio's parent company, Activision Blizzard, has been making moves that will undermine that support and make it harder for workers to organize. This morning, Activision VP of QA Chris Arends sent the clearest message yet about where executives stand on the unionization effort, and (spoiler) it's firmly against.

In an internal, locked Slack channel on Monday morning, Arends asked himself six questions about the potential union and provided answers for employees from Activision's point of view, as shared on Twitter by union organizer Jessica Gonzalez. Employees were unable to respond to the message. Each answer diminished the benefits of unionization, but the fourth prompt offered the most explicit takedown of the organization process. It reads as follows:

We heard that the union will protect employees and provide employees with job security?

Job security here at ABK rests with our ability to produce epic entertainment for our fans. A union doesn't do anything to help us produce world-class games, and the bargaining process is not typically quick, often reduces flexibility, and can be adversarial and lead to negative publicity. All of this could hurt our ability to continue creating great games.

The fifth answer argued that union-driven bargaining takes too long to be effective, stating the obvious in the process: "A unionized company cannot act quickly on its own if the union does not agree with its position." The final answer reminded employees that they don't have to vote in favor of the union when an election takes place.

On Twitter, Gonzalez called the post "sad."

This is the latest move from Activision designed to halt momentum on the unionization process at Raven. Just three days after employees announced they had gathered a supermajority of signatures required to unionize under the name Game Workers Alliance, Raven head Brian Raffel revealed a reorganization plan that breaks up the studio's QA department, moving employees to disparate teams.

Communications Workers of America, which is backing GWA, said on Twitter that the shuffle was "nothing more than a tactic to thwart Raven QA workers who are exercising their right to organize."

Activision also failed to voluntarily recognize GWA, which means they'll have to seek a vote through the NLRB, a process that can take years. Additionally, Activision is pushing for the vote to include all employees at Raven, rather than only QA workers, reducing the potential for success.

Arends' Slack message — trying to convince employees that unions will make their works lives slower and crappier — falls in line with Activision's previous tactics.

Activision Blizzard is currently the subject of intense scrutiny from multiple angles. GWA will be the first union at a AAA game development studio in North America, potentially setting the stage for more organization across the industry. Plus, Activision Blizzard is the subject of a lawsuit and multiple investigations into reports of systemic gender discrimination and sexual harassment at the studio, with incidents allegedly dating back decades.

And finally, Microsoft is in the process of buying Activision Blizzard, Raven Software and all, in a deal worth $69 billion. It'll be the largest acquisition in video game history and it marks the industry's era of consolidation. One day after news of the acquisition went live, Activision told the SEC that there were no unionization efforts underway at its studios, though in the months before, executives told Raven employees to "consider the consequences" of signing union cards.

Red-hot gaming market to breach $150 billion in deals, fundraising - report


A view shows Blizzard Entertainment's campus, in Irvine, California

Mon, January 31, 2022
By Nivedita Balu

(Reuters) - After kicking off 2022 with two mega acquisitions, the video gaming sector is racing to a new record of $150 billion in deals, financing and IPOs this year, according to investment banking firm Drake Star Partners.

In just the first few weeks of 2022, Microsoft Corp pitched nearly $70 billion for Activision Blizzard and Take-Two Interactive bid $11 billion for Zynga.

That has helped the total value of deals this year already near 2020's record haul of $85 billion from more than 1,159 announced or closed deals. Last year's figure was almost three times higher than in 2020.

The pandemic has ushered in a new era for mobile gaming. It opened an accessible gateway for new gamers when lockdowns first struck, while easing curbs pushed even seasoned players to switch from consoles to phones as they stepped out more.

The industry is also consolidating in the pursuit of new revenue streams, blurring the lines between PC and mobile gaming companies.

"We're in the middle of a large number of deals right now and the state continues to stay very hot," Drake Star's Michael Metzger said.

Some companies that have not made any big plays so far - including Amazon and Netflix - are expected to make new bets, Metzger said. In Asia, Tencent, Byte Dance, Netease, South Korea's Krafton and Japan's Sony are on the radar.

"Metaverse", long part of the gaming lexicon, has now entered the tech zeitgeist after Facebook changed its name to Meta Platforms in a nod to its focus on the online realm where people can connect through augmented or virtual reality.

Private placement deal value, volume and financing at or above unicorn level are set to break records, with investments from the likes of Tencent and Netease.

In IPOs, EPIC Games and Discord are the names to watch, according to the firm, whose clients include Codemasters and Echtra Games.

(Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Aditya Soni)

Trucker convoy protest: 'I have never seen such a display of hate,' Canadians say as demonstrators crowd Ottawa for third day

Elisabetta Bianchini
Mon, January 31, 2022, 10:41 AM·4 min read

Ottawa is still filled with demonstrators and trucks blocking downtown streets as the protest, initially aimed against COVID-19 public health measures, continues for its third day.

On Sunday, Ottawa Police Service confirmed policing costs alone are estimated to be $800,000 a day.

"Police are aware that many demonstrators have announced their intention to stay in place," a statement from Ottawa police reads. "This will continue to cause major traffic, noise and safety issues in the downtown core. We urge all residents to avoid travel to the core."

"Police have avoided ticketing and towing vehicle so as not to instigate confrontations with demonstrators. Still, confrontations and the need for de-escalation has regularly been required."

A number of schools, businesses in downtown Ottawa, including the city's Rideau Centre mall, and vaccine clinics have closed.

Police also stated Sunday that investigations are underway, looking into the desecration of the National War Memorial and the Terry Fox statue.

A local homeless shelter, Shepherds of Good Hope, shared that staff and volunteers were harassed and assaulted by demonstrators who were demanding food.

"While we are not certain of exact numbers, the demands for meals and verbal altercations continued for several hours over the dinner period," a statement from Shepherds of Good Hope reads.

"One member of our shelter community was assaulted by protestors. A security guard went to his aid and was threatened and called racial slurs."

Several Canadians have taken to social media to condemn the actions of these demonstrators.

Some Canadians have questioned when police will take stronger actions.