Climate, Ecology, War & More - Dr Glen Barry BigEarthData.ai

Quantum control of Hubbard excitons Oka, T. & Kitamura, S. Floquet engineering of quantum materials. Annu. Rev. Condens. Matter Phys. 10, 387–408 (2019). de la Torre, A. et al. Colloquium: Nonthermal pathways to ultrafast control in quantum materials. Rev. Mod. Phys. 93, 041002 (2021). Wang, Y. H., Steinberg, H., Jarillo-Herrero, P. & Gedik, N. Observation of Floquet–Bloch states on the surface of a topological insulator. Science 342, 453–457 (2013). Ito, S. et al. Build-up and dephasing of Floquet–Bloch bands on subcycle timescales. Nature 616, 696–701 (2023). Choi, D. et al. Observation of Floquet–Bloch states in monolayer graphene. Nat. Phys. 21, 1100–1105 (2025). Merboldt, M. et al. Observation of Floquet states in graphene. Nat. Phys. 21, 1093–1099 (2025). Aeschlimann, S. et al. Survival of Floquet–Bloch states in the presence of scattering. Nano Lett. 21, 5028–5035 (2021). Zhou, S. et al. Pseudospin-selective Floquet band engineering in black phosphorus. Nature 614, 75–80 (2023). Bielinski, N. et al. Floquet–Bloch manipulation of the Dirac gap in a topological antiferromagnet. Nat. Phys. 21, 458–463 (2025). Sie, E. J. et al. Valley-selective optical Stark effect in monolayer WS2. Nat. Mater. 14, 290–294 (2015). Sie, E. J. et al. Large, valley-exclusive Bloch–Siegert shift in monolayer WS2. Science 355, 1066–1069 (2017). McIver, J. W...

Quantum control of Hubbard excitons
->Nature | More on "Quantum materials light-driven exciton control" at BigEarthData.ai

Just Vaporware: Big Tech Must Deliver More Than a Pinky Promise on Data Centers
->Sierra Club | More on "Big tech data center promises" at BigEarthData.ai | #BigTech #Data

Queensland LNP calls in another big battery project as most coal dependent state hit by flight of capital The Queensland LNP government has officially called in yet another standalone big battery project, creating further uncertainty for investors already suffering a flight of capital in the wake of the state’s dumping of renewable energy targets. The latest victim is China giant Trina Solar’s Pleystowe battery project, near Mackay, which has been officially called in by the state planning minister after the potential was flagged earlier this year. The fate of the 200 megawatt (MW), 800 megawatt hour (MWh) project is now in the hands of planning minister, and noted renewable energy opponent, Jarrod Bleijie, who last week also officially called in Potentia Energy’s Capricorn battery project. In the official call-in notice for Pleystowe, Bleijie said he received 733 submissions about the project since it was first proposed for further scrutiny in early January. That compares to the 95 the council received during the local government planning process. “Matters of concern raised in the submissions related to fire risk, environmental risk, impact on the amenity of the locality, acoustic impact, economic impact due to loss of agricultural land and technical reporting (noise assessment),” Bleijie wrote in the call-in notice. “Calling in the application provides an opportunity to undertake a comprehensive...

Queensland LNP calls in another big battery project as most coal dependent state hit by flight of capital
->Renew Economy | More on "Queensland battery projects renewable uncertainty" at BigEarthData.ai | #ClimateChange #RenewableEnergy #Battery #Coal

Think before you pack: Australia's customs and biosecurity rules explained | SBS English
->SBS | More on "Australia biosecurity customs declaration rules" at BigEarthData.ai | #Biosecurity

March 9 - Weekly PA Environment Digest Now Available Click Here To View Or Print The Entire March 9 PA Environment Digest 158 New Stories - REAL Environmental & Conservation Leadership In PA Stories You May Have Missed Last Week: PA Environment & Energy Articles & NewsClips By Topic PA Shale Gas & Public Health Conference: Dr. Gary Allison - 75% Of Shale Gas Chemical Disclosure Listings Hide What’s In 200 Million Pounds Of Materials Used In PA Fracking; A Colorado Law Would Fix That DEP Investigating Seismic Event Near Penneco Environmental Oil & Gas Wastewater Injection Well In Plum Boro, Allegheny County PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Feb. 28 to March 6 - Abandoned Conventional Wells Hit 100; Investigating Seismic Event Near Wastewater Injection Well; Well Transfer Violations Environmental Quality Board Meets March 10 On Final Stream Redesignations Package; Report Due On DEP Review Of The Petition To Increase Setbacks From Shale Gas Wells, 4 Other Petitions DEP Invites Comments On Air Quality Permit For MarkWest Harmon Creek Natural Gas Processing Plant In Washington County DEP Accepting Comments On Chapter 105 Permit For 8 Mile, 24-Inch EQT ARO LLC Water Pipeline To Support Shale Gas Development In State Forest Land In Lycoming County DEP Accepting...

March 9 - Weekly PA Environment Digest Now Available
->PA Environment Digest Blog | More on "Pennsylvania fracking environment compliance news" at BigEarthData.ai | #Environment

World News in Brief: Türk's South Sudan ceasefire call, Ukraine strikes, Gaza food alert, Afghan returnees In an appeal for an immediate ceasefire, he said that over the past 17 days, more than 160 civilians have been killed. This includes at least 139 on 1 March by fighters from the Bul Nuer ethnic group in the northern Ruweng administrative area. Civilians ‘lured’ to their deaths On 21 February, the High Commissioner alleged that forces of the Juba government killed 21 civilians in Pankor village in eastern Jonglei state. “The soldiers lured them into gathering at one place, promising to give them food aid then opened fire on them,” he said, noting that some of these acts may amount to war crimes. Since December, both government and opposition forces and their allied militias in South Sudan have launched attacks on communities in seven states, including Jonglei, where more than 280,000 people have fled their homes. Ukraine war: Civilians killed and injured as strikes hit Kharkiv and Donetsk Large-scale missile and drone attacks across Ukraine in recent days have killed and injured civilians and damaged vital infrastructure, the UN said on Tuesday. Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told journalists that strikes between last Thursday and Monday affected multiple regions, with Kharkiv city among the hardest hit. Apartment blocks, a school...

World News in Brief: Türk's South Sudan ceasefire call, Ukraine strikes, Gaza food alert, Afghan returnees
->UN News | More on "South Sudan civilian massacre ceasefire" at BigEarthData.ai | #StandWithUkraine #RussiaUkraineWar #Gaza #Food #IsraelWar

Trump Skips Dignified Transfer After Everyone Trashed His Hat Donald Trump opted not to attend the dignified transfer for the seventh U.S. service member killed during the war with Iran. Several prominent Trump officials attended Sergeant Benjamin N. Pennington’s funeral procession at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Monday, including Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine. But Trump—who earlier this week was lambasted for wearing a self-aggrandizing baseball cap to another dignified transfer—was noticeably absent. Instead, Trump was at his golf club in Doral, Florida, with lawmakers for the House Republicans’ annual policy retreat. His schedule indicated that he was flying back to Washington at the time of the procession. Pennington died Sunday after sustaining injuries earlier this month at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. He was the seventh U.S. military member to die amid the current Middle East conflict. Six other slain troops were transferred to U.S. soil on Sunday, though the honorary service was overshadowed by Trump’s fashion choices, which included wearing a Trump-branded, white-and-gold baseball cap that he kept on even as the flag-covered coffins passed by. The president has not been shy about his casual and callous disregard for America’s...

Trump Skips Dignified Transfer After Everyone Trashed His Hat
->The New Republic | More on "Trump skips dignified transfer ceremony" at BigEarthData.ai | #TrumpFascism #NoDecency

Keeping Kyiv Warm Under Fire
->Foreign Policy | More on "Kyiv winter heating war survival" at BigEarthData.ai | #RussiaUkraineWar #Kyiv

International tribunal to hear case of missing Indigenous children in Canada

International tribunal to hear case of missing Indigenous children in Canada
->David Suzuki Foundation | More on "Indigenous missing children Canada tribunal" at BigEarthData.ai | #Indigenous

Villagers on Príncipe, the 'African Galapagos', to be paid for protecting the ecosystem | Sao Tome and Principe
->The Guardian | More on "Príncipe islanders paid for conservation" at BigEarthData.ai | #Ecosystem

Strike Hits Bryansk's Kremniy EL Chip Plant Linked to Iskander, S-400 Supply

Strike Hits Bryansk's Kremniy EL Chip Plant Linked to Iskander, S-400 Supply
->UNITED24 Media | More on "Bryansk chip plant Iskander strike" at BigEarthData.ai

Living in the overshoot age Back in 2015, the Paris Agreement set the goal for nations to hold the temperature increase associated with climate change to under 2 °C, and to pursue efforts to limit warming to 1.5 °C relative to a pre-industrial baseline. On 23 July 2025, The International Court of Justice ruled that the 1.5 °C temperature target is legally binding and that all states should take aligned actions. Overshoot refers to temporarily crossing these lines, before backing down through techniques that remove atmospheric carbon. Recent research shows that the 1.5 °C temperature threshold may have already been crossed in 20241,2, indicating that overshoot is closer than anticipated. The concept has transited from model simulations to a reality that needs to be managed imminently. Naturally, such a transition would require a fundamental shift in our understanding of mitigation, adaptation and climate governance. To lower and stabilize global temperatures after they exceed climate targets, negative emissions will be essential. This means carbon dioxide removal (CDR) options will be the central theme in the age of overshoot, even if there is currently limited knowledge of how the climate system will respond to irreversibility or the effectiveness of different CDR techniques. At the same time, many...

Living in the overshoot age
->Nature | More on "Climate overshoot 15°C threshold reality" at BigEarthData.ai | #Overshoot

War with Iran delivers high oil prices and another shock to the global economy WASHINGTON (AP) — The war with Iran is doing collateral damage to the world economy. The conflict is driving up energy and fertilizer prices; threatening food shortages in poor countries; destabilizing fragile states such as Pakistan; and complicating options for the inflation fighters at central banks like the Federal Reserve. WATCH: Iran's Araghchi calls U.S. strikes a 'failure' and vows to fight 'as long as it takes' Causing much of the pain: the Strait of Hormuz — through which a fifth of the world's oil passes — was effectively shut down after the U.S. and Israel launched missile strikes Feb. 28 that killed Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. "For a long time, the nightmare scenario that deterred the U.S. from even thinking about an attack on Iran and which got them to urge restraint on Israel was that the Iranians would close the Strait of Hormuz," said Maurice Obstfeld, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund. "Now we're in the nightmare scenario." With a key shipping route cut off, oil prices have surged — from less than $70 a barrel on Feb. 27 to a peak of nearly...

War with Iran delivers high oil prices and another shock to the global economy
->PBS | More on "Iran war global economic impact" at BigEarthData.ai | #Iran

What Israel's war on Hezbollah could mean for Lebanon's future Beirut, Lebanon - It took Hassan al-Hussein three hours to walk from his apartment in Beirut’s southern suburbs to Martyrs’ Square in the heart of the Lebanese capital, something that is usually no more than a 10 or 15-minute drive if there is no traffic, after the first Israeli bombs fell on Dahiyeh. Hussein, along with his wife and three young children, would walk, rest, and sometimes carry the children as they fled to what they hoped would be safety. They are now sleeping on the street with what little they could carry with them in the chaos and panicked escape. Like so many others, Hussein was caught off guard by the start of the war. Hezbollah had given no indication that it planned on entering the war launched by Israel and the United States against Iran. Quite the opposite. Though the party said that the assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was a “red line” for them, they had also given assurances behind closed doors that they would not start a new war with Israel at a time when the country was still recovering from the last one. “We didn’t hear [that the war had started], we...

What Israel's war on Hezbollah could mean for Lebanon's future
->The New Arab | More on "Israel-Hezbollah war Lebanon's future" at BigEarthData.ai | #IsraelWar #Hezbollah

Climate expert Richard Alley to keynote joint Arctic, glaciology conference at UB - UBNow Renowned climate expert and National Medal of Science recipient Richard Alley will speak at UB as part of a joint event exploring how Earth’s poles shape our climate, landscapes and future. Alley is the keynote speaker for the International Arctic Workshop and the Northeast Glaciology Meeting, which are running in parallel March 18-21 at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Alley’s keynote address, open to the entire university community, will be held at 6 p.m. March 19 and can be registered for separately. Alley, the Evan Pugh University Professor of Geosciences at Penn State University, will speak about accelerating sea level rise caused mostly by warming-induced ice melt, including how sea level rise will vary by region and the large uncertainties surrounding future trends. “Dr. Alley’s talk will underscore how this variability and uncertainty should motivate ever greater efforts to reduce warming,” says Sophie Nowicki, SUNY Empire Innovation Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences. “He will address how sustainable energy can provide more energy at less cost, helping society economically as well as environmentally and ethically.” In the 1990s, Alley led a team that provided clear evidence that Earth experienced abrupt changes...

Climate expert Richard Alley to keynote joint Arctic, glaciology conference at UB - UBNow
->University of Buffalo | More on "Richard Alley Arctic glaciology conference" at BigEarthData.ai | #Arctic #Climate

With war in Iran war, expect higher gas prices and inflation - Northeastern Global News Gas in the United States reached an average of $3.539 a gallon on Tuesday, up more than 17% since the start of U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran. Gas prices are up and oil fields are aflame as the war in the Middle East continues into its second week. Gas in the United States reached an average of $3.539 a gallon on Tuesday, according to AAA motor club, up more than 17% since the start of U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran on Feb. 28. Oil prices on Sunday, meanwhile, eclipsed $100 a barrel for the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, trading near $120 a barrel early Monday before easing to just below $100. The increases followed the U.S. crude price climbing 36% and a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, rising by 28% the previous week. These increases also come as many parts of the Northern hemisphere are preparing for the summer driving season to begin. “Refineries are beginning the process of producing summer-blend gasoline which contains pricier additives to help reduce evaporation during warmer months,” AAA said in a Feb. 26 press release. “Gas demand is also expected to increase next month as spring break season kicks off and...

With war in Iran war, expect higher gas prices and inflation - Northeastern Global News
->Northeastern | More on "Iran war gas prices inflation" at BigEarthData.ai | #GasPrice #IranWar

Trump Is Just Making Stuff Up About Strike on Iranian Girls' School President Donald Trump was caught in an obvious lie about the military strike on a girls’ primary school in Iran that killed 175 people, many of them children. Speaking at a news conference Monday evening, Trump floundered when asked whether the United States would accept responsibility for the deadly strike after it was reported that the strike was conducted with a Tomahawk missile—a weapon primarily used by the U.S. military. Trump said that Tomahawk missiles were “one of the most powerful weapons around” but were also a “generic” weapon that the U.S. sold to many countries. Iran was in possession of some, and an investigation would reveal “whether it’s Iran, or somebody else,” he said. “Mr. President, you just suggested that Iran somehow got its hands on a Tomahawk and bombed its own elementary school on the first day of the war,” asked New York Times reporter Shawn McCreesh. “You’re the only person in your government saying this. Even your defense secretary wouldn’t say that when he was asked, standing over your shoulder on your plane on Saturday. Why are you the only person saying this?” The president struggled to back up his claim for even a moment. “Because I...

Trump Is Just Making Stuff Up About Strike on Iranian Girls' School
->The New Republic | More on "Trump lies about Iran strike" at BigEarthData.ai | #TrumpFascism #NoDecency

The feds pulled $1.5B from tribal clean energy. Tribes are finding another way Across tribal nations, hosting a convening with dinner and a tour of an ambitious new project is a familiar scene. But for David Harper, a member of the Colorado River Indian Tribes and CEO of the newly created tribal energy financing organization Huurav, a recent gathering felt different. Last week, at the Bluewater Resort and Casino on the Colorado River Indian Tribes reservation in western Arizona, Huurav met with tribal leaders, investors, and farmers to kick off the tribe’s first agrivoltaics project: a practice that allows for growing crops beneath solar panels. The project marks a significant breakthrough for the tribe and the broader tribal clean energy landscape, arriving on the heels of a devastating blow to federal support. In October of last year, the passage of President Donald Trump’s tax bill, colloquially known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” stripped roughly $1.5 billion in federal funding earmarked for tribal renewable energy and climate resilience projects. “Were we surprised by the claw back? No, they’ve done it before,” said Huurav’s Harper. “Have they reneged on their promise of our treaties? Yes, of course. So does that immobilize us and not be able to survive? No, what it does is...

The feds pulled $1.5B from tribal clean energy. Tribes are finding another way
->Grist | More on "Tribal clean energy financing alternatives" at BigEarthData.ai | #Indigenous #CleanEnergy

Mideast War 'Must Not Obstruct' Peace Efforts For Ukraine, Turkey Says The war in the Middle East must not get in the way of negotiations to end the conflict in Ukraine, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told President Volodymyr Zelensky in a call Tuesday. “The conflict in Iran must not obstruct the peace efforts for Ukraine,” the Turkish leader said, according to a statement from his office. “It would be beneficial to continue the negotiations without delay and to staunch Ukraine’s wounds,” Erdogan was quoted as saying. Zelensky, on X, said that in the call Erdogan offered to have Turkey “host the next round of talks in a trilateral format”, with Ukrainian, Russian and US delegations. “We appreciate this initiative and hope it can produce results,” the Ukrainian leader said. According to the Turkish presidency, Erdogan spoke about the need for the conflict to recede from the Black Sea, the body of water shared by Ukraine, Russia and Turkey, the entrance to which is the Bosphorus Strait, which runs through Istanbul. Russia and Ukraine have each attacked commercial ships carrying cargo for the other side in the Black Sea. “Navigation safety in the Black Sea is of utmost importance to Turkey. A ceasefire protecting energy and port infrastructure can contribute to...

Mideast War 'Must Not Obstruct' Peace Efforts For Ukraine, Turkey Says
->Kyiv Post | More on "Turkey mediates Ukraine peace talks" at BigEarthData.ai | #RussiaUkraineWar #Peace #StandWithUkraine

How the U.S.-Israel attack on Iran helps Russia in its war against Ukraine The American and Israeli attacks on Iran and the confusion within the United States over the war’s objectives are making headlines. The attacks, and Iran’s countertactics of targeting American military bases and allies in the region, is having geopolitical ramifications beyond Iran’s borders. The surge in oil prices is just one way the war is affecting people around the world. The war is also having a significant impact on other conflicts globally — especially the Russia-Ukraine war. The assault on Iran is helping advance Russian interests as it prepares for a spring offensive against Ukraine. Impact of the war on Russia The current phase of the Russia-Ukraine war is entering its fifth year, with the cost of the conflict in terms of resources and human casualties mounting on both sides. One U.S. think tank estimates Russia’s total number of casualties at over 1.2 million, forcing Russia to rely on North Korean soldiers and illicit recruiting practices, primarily in Africa and Asia, to make up for a shortfall. Russian casualty levels have impacted how it approaches the conflict, but equally important from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s perspective is maintaining support among both the broader populace and the Russian oligarchs. Preventing the...

How the U.S.-Israel attack on Iran helps Russia in its war against Ukraine
->The Conversation | More on "US-Israel Iran attack aids Russia" at BigEarthData.ai | #StandWithUkraine #RussiaUkraineWar #Iran

5 ways to cut back on gas It might be time to fix up your rusty old bike. Gasoline prices are already spiking in what The Wall Street Journal (paywall) calls “the most severe energy crisis since the 1970s.” In response to bombing by the U.S. and Israel, Iran attacked vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil normally flows. As a result, most shipping traffic in the strait has halted. “We are looking at what is by far the biggest disruption in world history in terms of daily oil production,” energy historian Daniel Yergin told The Wall Street Journal. “If it goes on for weeks, it will reverberate across the global economy.” Here’s a guide, drawn from the Yale Climate Connections archives, to what you can do to get through the immediate crisis – and help wean your community off oil in the long term. I also want to hear from you: How are rising gas prices affecting your community? What are your strategies for reducing how often you need to fill up? Let me know here. Drive more efficiently. This is the simplest strategy to implement. You can start today: Maintain a proper tire pressure Keep your...

5 ways to cut back on gas
->Yale Climate Connections | More on "Reducing gas use during crisis" at BigEarthData.ai

Interpretation drift in explainable AI under label noise Modern machine learning (ML) models have achieved remarkable predictive performance across diverse domains. However, their decision-making processesing often relies on opaque “black boxes”, significantly hindering human understanding, validation, and trust ​1. This limitation has fueled a growing interest in explainable and interpretable AI, particularly in high-stakes settings (healthcare2, law3, finance4, where decisions must be fully transparent to be trusted. And although AI interpretability and explainability methods can be extended to post-hoc interpretation of complex black-box models as well, simpler models with intrinsic transparency became increasingly important in critical decision-making. Among those, ruleset-based classifiers, mimicking human reasoning patterns, are particularly valued for their explicit if-then structure and easy-to-understand Boolean logic5,6. Interpretability, however, remains a domain hard to assess objectively7. To address this challenge, researchers have proposed frameworks that map out conceptual properties and evaluation criteria for explanations8,9. Early experimental studies with users revealed one important factor: as models grow larger, their comprehensibility tends to decline10. Similarly, cognitive research indicates that humans use only up to four variables in their decision making11,12,13. These insights reinforce a long-standing practice of assessing the interpretability of rule-based models through size-related measures such as the number of model rules, variables, or conditions. Longer or more complex...

Interpretation drift in explainable AI under label noise
->Nature | More on "Explainable AI label noise interpretation" at BigEarthData.ai | #AI

Op-Ed | A Toxic Turn for Our Daily Bread: Why GMO Wheat Raises Serious Concerns
->Food Tank | More on "GMO wheat herbicide health risks" at BigEarthData.ai | #Toxic

Women of CalTrout: Katrina Harrison Please share a bit about your background and what inspired you to pursue a career as a Water Resources Engineer at Applied River Sciences focused on conservation. I grew up in suburban San Jose, but my family spent our weekends camping and hiking in the Santa Cruz mountains, biking along Los Gatos Creek, and our summers camping around the western United States. That developed my passion for the outdoors. I enjoy learning about the natural world, and the fluid motion of water fascinates me. Both my sister and I were good at math and science, and so my father (a mechanical engineer) encouraged both of us to pursue engineering. In college at UC Berkeley, I took a seminar class to help us decide what branch of engineering to pursue, and was inspired by a professor who studied natural water treatment systems. She was working in developing countries creating treatment wetlands. I loved the idea of engineers designing systems that can work for both people and the environment. After graduation, I worked for the San Joaquin River Restoration Program for seven years before working on state-wide water management and fisheries issues in the Delta and then coming to Applied River Sciences...

Women of CalTrout: Katrina Harrison
->California Trout | More on "Women in water conservation engineering" at BigEarthData.ai

What influences how you think about climate change? Analysis: How we think about climate change is strongly influenced by our social and political identity. By Ashling Bourke and Salam Jabbour, DCU Recent flooding, in Ireland, as well as extreme temperatures in the US, Canada and Australia, may have more people thinking about climate change. While such weather events can have a temporary impact on our climate change attitudes, how we think about climate change is strongly influenced by our social and political identity. Outright belief in climate change is generally quite high in Ireland (95%) and across Europe. But belief in the human cause - anthropogenic beliefs – and concern about climate change tend to be lower. So while almost everyone sees the problem, the disagreement lies in the cause and urgency, and these attitudes are influenced by a range of socio-political factors. Younger people, women and more educated people tend to show more concern about climate change and have stronger beliefs in the human causes of climate change. A recent study found that men who are more concerned about maintaining their sense of masculinity show less climate change concern. We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set...

What influences how you think about climate change?
->RTE | More on "Social identity shapes climate beliefs" at BigEarthData.ai | #ClimateChange

War expands to central Beirut as Israel says Iranians hit in luxury hotel Alice CuddySenior international reporter, Beirut It was about 01:30 in the morning when a loud explosion tore through the Raouche neighbourhood in the heart of the Lebanese capital Beirut. The Israeli strike on the four-star Ramada Plaza hotel marked the first time in this war that Israel's bombing campaign had struck the city centre - a bustling coastal area full of restaurants and hotels. Inside, the Israeli military said, was a secret meeting of Iranian operatives. The strike came without warning, and locals and displaced people staying in the area ran to their windows and balconies to see what had happened. Those on the streets nearby - still busy with Ramadan crowds - ducked for cover. Lebanon has been hit with hundreds of Israeli strikes since war between Israel and the Iran-backed armed group and political movement Hezbollah resumed here a week ago. Many of the strikes have toppled entire buildings, and nearly 500 people have been killed, according to official figures. They have focused on southern Lebanon, the eastern Bekaa Valley, and the southern suburbs of Beirut - the heartlands of Hezbollah and of the country's Shia Muslim community. But this Israeli drone strike in Raouche was far from...

War expands to central Beirut as Israel says Iranians hit in luxury hotel
->BBC | More on "Israel strikes central Beirut hotel" at BigEarthData.ai

Promising breakthrough creates plastics that self-deconstruct on cue Plastics have a gigantic built-in problem: They’re tenacious, which is very good for a milk jug or a car bumper. But they don’t easily break down, which is bad for the environment. From the 1950s, when plastics were first produced in significant amounts, through 2017, the petrochemical industry churned out more than 8.3 billion metric tons of the nearly indestructible stuff, the vast majority of which is still with us today, polluting the natural world, contaminating wildlife and ourselves. Add to this an estimated 25 billion metric tons of plastic expected to be produced by 2050, and the agonizingly intractable nature of this mega-pollution crisis becomes clear. Humanity’s take-make-waste linear manufacturing economic model for plastics stands in stark contrast to natural systems. Over billions of years of evolution, living organisms developed strong, durable materials (think bone, shell and silk) that self-deconstruct back into harmless components after use. Inspired by the circularity of natural materials, chemists at Rutgers University in the U.S. set out to design plastics that could do the same. And they think they have found a breakthrough solution to the circularity problem, or at least may have taken a big step toward a solution. In a paper published...

Promising breakthrough creates plastics that self-deconstruct on cue
->Mongabay | More on "Self-destructing plastics environmental breakthrough" at BigEarthData.ai | #Plastic

Trump Was on Phone While Epstein Assaulted a 16-Year-Old, Victim Says One of Donald Trump’s most outspoken attorneys is facing discipline over ethics violations. Ed Martin, an employee at the Justice Department, is in trouble with Washington, D.C.’s professional conduct investigator for sending a letter to the dean of the Georgetown University Law Center last year saying his DOJ office wouldn’t hire any graduates from the law school due to its diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. A complaint was filed by Hamilton Fox, who serves as disciplinary counsel for the district, giving him prosecutor-like powers on disciplining attorneys. Professional conduct proceedings will now begin for Martin, where he could face sanctions or even lose his law license. It’s the first such action against a lawyer in the Trump administration. “Acting in his official capacity and speaking on behalf of the government, he used coercion to punish or suppress a disfavored viewpoint, the teaching and promotion of ‘DEI,’” said Fox in the complaint. “He demanded that Georgetown Law relinquish its free speech and religious rights in order to continue to obtain a benefit, employment opportunities for its students.” Trump tried to name Martin as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia early in his second term, only for him to be removed...

Trump Was on Phone While Epstein Assaulted a 16-Year-Old, Victim Says
->The New Republic | More on "Trump DOJ attorney ethics violation" at BigEarthData.ai | #NoDecency #TrumpFascism #Epstein

Russia-linked hackers appear on Iran war's cyber front, but their impact is murky Apparent Russia-linked hacking collectives backing Iran have been observed joining the cyber activity unfolding alongside the U.S.-Israel war against Iran, though analysts have mixed views on whether their involvement represents a meaningful escalation or little more than online noise. The outlook on such “hacktivist” groups — hackers who attempt to penetrate systems and steal information for political activism — comes days after The Washington Post reported that Russia is supplying Iran with intelligence to help target U.S. forces in the Middle East and adds another dimension to the already complex cyber and information environment surrounding the war. One well-known pro-Russia group dubbed “NoName057(16)” recently claimed massive distributed denial-of-service attacks against Israeli defense contractors and also claimed to have gained full access to the human-machine interfaces of Israeli water management systems, said Kathryn Raines, a cyber threat intelligence team lead at cybersecurity firm Flashpoint. But company analysts have not verified these claims, she said. Distributed denial-of-service hacks, known colloquially as “DDoS” attacks, overwhelm websites with large amounts of artificial internet traffic to stop legitimate users from accessing them. CrowdStrike has similarly observed a surge in pro-Iran hacktivists with ties to Russia. In the first few days after the war broke out...

Russia-linked hackers appear on Iran war's cyber front, but their impact is murky
->Defense One | More on "Russia-linked hackers Iran cyber war" at BigEarthData.ai | #Technology #Hacker #IranWar

You're already paying for Trump's Iran war President Donald Trump continues to give mixed messages about the war in Iran. But what is clear is the impact that the conflict is already having on the US and global economies. Oil prices, which briefly crested $100 a barrel on Monday, are higher than we’ve seen in years. People are already seeing the impact at the pump, with average gas prices above $3.50 per gallon. But the impact doesn’t stop there: It also means that the price of, well, everything, can go up. Mike Bird, Wall Street editor for The Economist, told Today, Explained co-host Noel King that higher prices, if they endure, are likely to cause a problem for Trump and the GOP in the approaching midterm elections. Below is an excerpt of Bird’s conversation with Today, Explained, edited for length and clarity. There’s much more in the full episode, so listen to Today, Explained wherever you get podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and Spotify. Is the war in Iran already affecting the US economy? Yes, is the short answer. Oil prices move very quickly to account for future conditions and current conditions, and that is fed almost immediately into gas prices. If you own a car, if...

You're already paying for Trump's Iran war
->Vox | More on "Trump's Iran war economic impact" at BigEarthData.ai | #TrumpFascism #IranWar #NoDecency