Race for our lives

By Matt Davies, Newsday

 

VIDEO: This should be an Olympic

Watch is on YouTube: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=1gXCukkTp6w&t=2s&ab_channel=FloTrack
 

URI oceanographers reveal links between migrating Gulf Stream and warming ocean waters

At stake: sea level rise, fishing

Dawn Bergantino\

An animated map and time series (same color convention) of the 2008 temperature anomaly on the Northwest Atlantic Shelf, highlighting the rapid warming in the most recent decade. (Animation by Afonso Gonçalves Neto)

The Northwest Atlantic Shelf is one of the fastest-changing regions in the global ocean, and is currently experiencing marine heat waves, altered fisheries and a surge in sea level rise along the North American east coast. 

A new paper, “Changes in the Gulf Stream preceded rapid warming of the Northwest Atlantic Shelf,” published in Communications Earth & Environment by recent URI Graduate School of Oceanography graduate Afonso Gonçalves Neto reveals the causes, potential predictability and historical context for these types of rapid changes.  

Do you really need to drink 8 glasses of water a day?

An exercise scientist explains why your kidneys say 'no'

Tamara Hew-Butler, Wayne State University

Exercising can increase your need to drink water, but there’s
no need to overdo it. The Great Brigade/Getty Images

The warmer weather and longer days have inspired reminders to “stay hydrated” and drink eight glasses of water – or about two liters – a day.

Not to burst anyone’s water bottle, but healthy people can actually die from drinking too much water. 

I am an exercise physiologist, and my research focuses on overhydration and how drinking too much water affects the body. 

Since water – and sodium – balance is essential to life, it is extremely rare for people to die from drinking too much – or too little – fluid. 

In most cases, your body’s finely tuned molecular processes are unconsciously taking care of you.

The post office is doing WHAT?

Document Reveals USPS Is Monitoring Social Media Posts

By Jake Johnson, staff writer for Common Dreams

Trump-appointed hold-over Postmaster Louis DeJoy is doing all he can
to undermine public confidence in the Postal Service.

An internal government bulletin  obtained by Yahoo News this week revealed that the law enforcement arm of the U.S. Postal Service is monitoring social media posts as part of a surveillance operation known as iCOP, a secretive program that sparked alarm among rights groups and civil liberties advocates.

The sensitive bulletin concerns the U.S. Postal Inspection Service's (USPIS) recent surveillance of Facebook, Parler, and Telegram posts related to the March 20 World Wide Rally for Freedom and Democracy, anti-coronavirus lockdown and anti-vaccine demonstrations organized by far-right groups.

"The federal government's sprawling and clandestine surveillance apparatus manifests in a new way," tweeted progressive activist Jordan Uhl. "These breaches of civil liberties largely go unchecked because, again, it targets right-wingers on Parler, but ultimately threaten everyone in the long run."

Jana Winter of Yahoo News reported that the USPIS surveillance effort "involves having analysts trawl through social media sites to look for what the document describes as 'inflammatory' postings and then sharing that information across government agencies."

Winter wrote on Twitter that USPIS would not answer questions about when the social media monitoring program began.

Repeal MOPR

Time To Repeal New England’s Anti-Consumer Dirty Energy Rule

By Bruce Ho

Originally published on the NRDC Expert Blog.

Within the arcane rules that govern New England’s regional power grid, there’s a ticking time bomb that threatens to frustrate the region’s efforts to tackle the climate crisis while raising electricity bills by $3 billion over 10 years.

Known as the Minimum Offer Price Rule or MOPR (pronounced “mo-per”), this provision has already locked in hundreds of millions of dollars in excess charges to households and businesses from Nashua, New Hampshire, to New Haven, Connecticut, by preventing inefficient, polluting power plants from being replaced by cleaner ones.

Unless changed, this rule will force the region to pay even more for dirty power it neither wants nor needs. Repealing or significantly reforming the costly, outdated Minimum Offer Price Rule is in the best interests of New England’s consumers, their health, and our climate.

For years, the organization that operates New England’s grid — ISO New England — has resisted meaningful MOPR reforms. In 2018, the ISO proposed an updated rule that reinforced the existing MOPR, prioritizing fossil fuel generators’ profits over consumers.

But there’s hope for change. The new chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, which oversees ISO New England, has made MOPR repeal or reform a top priority. In response, ISO New England has publicly committed to reform the rule, though what the grid operator has in mind — and whether this aligns with consumer and clean energy interests — remains to be seen.

New England states also are pushing ISO New England and FERC to act. As several groups (Acadia Center, Conservation Law Foundation, NRDC, and Sierra Club) that are members of the Sustainable FERC Project coalition recently commented to state leaders, continued pressure from the states will be critical to address the MOPR and build a reliable, clean, and consumer-centric grid.

The way it is

 

Great new product

 

Coronavirus does not infect the brain but still inflicts damage, study finds

COVID and your brain

Columbia University Irving Medical Center

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, likely does not directly infect the brain but can still inflict significant neurological damage, according to a new study from neuropathologists, neurologists, and neuroradiologists at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.

"There's been considerable debate about whether this virus infects the brain, but we were unable to find any signs of virus inside brain cells of more than 40 COVID-19 patients," says James E. Goldman, MD, PhD, professor of pathology & cell biology (in psychiatry), who led the study with Peter D. Canoll, MD, PhD, professor of pathology & cell biology, and Kiran T. Thakur, MD, the Winifred Mercer Pitkin Assistant Professor of Neurology.

"At the same time, we observed many pathological changes in these brains, which could explain why severely ill patients experience confusion and delirium and other serious neurological effects -- and why those with mild cases may experience 'brain fog' for weeks and months."

The study, published in the journal Brain, is the largest and most detailed COVID-19 brain autopsy report published to date, suggests that the neurological changes often seen in these patients may result from inflammation triggered by the virus in other parts of the body or in the brain's blood vessels.

Eat fish

Another way “good” cholesterol is good: combatting inflammation

American Heart Association Circulation Journal Report

Testing how well “good” cholesterol particles reduce inflammation may help predict who is at heightened risk to develop cardiovascular disease caused by narrowed arteries, according to research published today in the American Heart Association’s flagship journal Circulation.

Assessing levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, known as “good cholesterol,” are already a standard part of formulas used to predict cardiovascular risk. 

A new test of the anti-inflammatory function of HDL seems to provide additional information that is independent of the quantity of HDL.

If the results are confirmed in broader populations and a test developed for clinical use, adding anti-inflammatory capacity to risk scores may improve risk prediction and help people take steps to protect themselves against heart disease.

Can we prevent the end of the world?

Unconventional takes on pandemics and nuclear defense could protect humanity from catastrophic failure

American Physical Society

Painting by Michel Granger, chosen by Jean Michel Jarre
for cover of his 1976 album Oxygène

From engineered pandemics to city-toppling cyber attacks to nuclear annihilation, life on Earth could radically change, and soon.

"Our Earth is 45 million centuries old. But this century is the first when one species -- ours -- can determine the biosphere's fate," said Martin Rees, the United Kingdom's Astronomer Royal and a founder of the Centre for the Study of Existential Risks at Cambridge University.*

"Our globally-linked society is vulnerable to the unintended consequences of powerful new technologies -- not only nuclear, but (even more) biotech, cyber, advanced AI, space technology," he added.

Earth Day 2021: Looking back at an unprecedented year for the planet

As we honor Earth, let's remember how much she's been through lately.

Cameron Oglesby for the Environmental Health News

This day last year, the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, was supposed to be complete with international summits, events, and celebrations.

But most of that was scrapped thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.

Here we are on the 51st anniversary—still battling COVID-19. Since last year the world has faced an unprecedented economic crisis, racial reckoning, and political shift in the fight for climate change.

So much has happened—and to celebrate this Earth Day we wanted to highlight notable environmental and climate events, issues, and news that have shaped society and our planet over the past year.

Protect the rights of corporate persons!

For more cartoons by Ruben Bolling, CLICK HERE.

 

Wingnuts on parade

 

Study showing how the brain retrieves facts and may help people with memory problems

New study showing how the brain retrieves facts and personal experiences may help people with memory disorders

University of York

A shared set of systems in the brain may play an important role in controlling the retrieval of facts and personal memories utilised in everyday life, new research shows.

Scientists from the University of York say their findings may have relevance to memory disorders, including dementia, where problems remembering relevant information can impact on the daily life of patients.

Researchers say the findings may also have important implications for the development of a new generation of artificial intelligence systems, which use long-term memory in solving computational problems.

The brain's long-term memory stores are categorised into two: factual memory and memory of personal experiences.

Together, these two long-term memory stores help us understand and respond to the world around us.