Dr Keith Walker @SteelFolk@qoto.org

A win for reason & the Earth!

A California lawsuit brought by the anti-nuclear group Friends of the Earth, to prevent the extension of Diablo Canyon #nuclear power plant, has been roundly rejected 'w/o leave to amend'.

Next, we must make it legal again to build more safe nuclear power plants California. Otherwise we'll be using more #gas & possibly even #coal into the future.

https://tinyurl.com/3e69uu92

#climatechange #environment #science #energy

A couple more next generation Covid vaccines are heading into clinical trials. That's some of the news in my monthly update (No 10) @PLOS https://absolutelymaybe.plos.org/2023/08/25/more-next-generation-covid-vaccines-are-heading-into-clinical-trials-update-10/

Both those new vaxes are supported by national health research agencies - a mucosal vax by NIH in the US, & a pancoronavirus vax by INSERM in France.

Other news includes US Project NextGen's first $1b for vax development, & the first clinical trial results for a pancoronavirus vax are around the corner (from Canada).

#Covid #vaccine

Stochastic terrorism is "the public demonization of a person or group resulting in the incitement of a violent act, which is statistically probable but whose specifics cannot be predicted." Donald Trump has been using social media to blast prosecutors, judges, and witnesses, and his followers have answered with calls for violence. If the ex-president is a stochastic terrorist, what should we do in response? https://thinkbigpicture.substack.com/p/donald-trump-stochastic-terrorist-threats

Who would have thought 🙄

A study (https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU22/EGU22-2562.html) shows that women are more likely to win awards that are not named after men.

#UnconsciousBias #genderequality #academicchatter

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01506-4

@davidallengreen There is no way to compel a monster or contrarian to be the performatively cowed repentant that some crave. Having the guilty laugh in the faces of victims is the inevitable outcome.
Justice is not a personal service.

#CatsOfMastodon
#Cat41267

Banking the #unbanked: focusing on commercial banks misses an opportunity. #Banks won't provide financial incentives such as lottery schemes for the poor to use banks. But another sector could - and should.

My new Coppola Comment post (paywall/free trial)
https://coppolacomment.substack.com/p/banking-the-unbanked-focusing-on

"I think so many people just think it’s this place that has penguins and it doesn’t impact anyone,” says Bransome. “But it’s often referred to as the ‘beating heart of the planet,’ because the currents send nutrients to the global ocean feeding fisheries and biodiversity throughout the ocean. It stores the majority of heat and carbon that’s created. It really impacts us all.”

21/

When people say they don’t want Biden to run again, the biggest reason is that he’s too old. When they say they don’t want Trump to run again, the biggest reason is that he is a criminal who will destroy our democracy. Do people honestly think there is any equivalence here?

Latest Coppola Comment post debunks the money multiplier myth, yet again. I really shouldn't be still having to do this 15 years after Lehman. But some people who should know better seem intent on resurrecting it.

https://coppolacomment.substack.com/p/the-money-multiplier-myth-refuses

What 1st Canadian #astronaut on #moon mission is learning from his crewmates (exclusive).

#Artemis2 moon astronaut Jeremy Hansen spoke with Space.com about his upcoming 2024 mission.

https://www.space.com/artemis-2-moon-astronaut-canada-crewmates-teaching

Here is a question.

If the impeachment process had worked properly against Trump, would all (or some) of these indictments have still happened?

Die Kraft der Photosynthese!

#silentsunday

A reminder, in case you missed it ... I'm starting a newsletter!

My intent is to share (occasionally) news & views on developments in the world, the solar system, & the Universe ... focusing on the big #science-related issues of the day, and how our world has gotten to this point & where it might be headed.

If that sounds like fun, subscribe here and join the already 6100+ who took the leap!

https://listserv.ciclops.org/mailman/listinfo/announce

I hope to see you there!

#space #astrodon #astronomy #physics #explore

Well it had to happen eventually. #Scripps is retiring FLIP (FLoating Instrument Platform). This is an amazing piece of engineering (and soooo weird on the inside - everything pivots, so walls become floors). The #ship to be towed out to a location, and it would literally flip, sinking most of the ship directly down to give a *very stable platform for #oceanography research. Launched in 1962.
https://maritime-executive.com/article/world-s-strangest-research-vessel-heads-for-scrapyard-after-51-years

"There’s no immediate danger of the U.S. losing its 'exorbitant privilege', but if it continues to dance with default, eventually the world will lose patience and start seriously seeking alternatives to the dollar and the UST. Indeed, that process may already have begun"

https://coppolacomment.substack.com/publish/post/135827889

In the red states of Kansas, Kentucky, Montana and Ohio, where the people have had a chance to vote statewide, abortion rights have won out. This is a loser issue for the GOP and a galvanizing one for Democrats everywhere.

Once again.

It is an express part of the Good Friday Agreement that the ECHR is enforceable in Northern Ireland

The UK cannot quit the ECHR without either breaching or renegotiating the Good Friday Agreement. And Ireland will never agree to removing the Convention rights of the nationalist community in Northern Ireland.

Es ist nicht das erste Mal, dass die 1,5⁰C Erwärmungsschwelle überschritten wird. Während eines starken El Niño im Jahr 2015 lag die globale Durchschnittstemperatur einige Tage lang um mehr als 1,5⁰C über dem vorindustriellen Niveau, wahrscheinlich zum ersten Mal im Industriezeitalter, laut Copernicus-Daten.

https://climate.copernicus.eu/tracking-breaches-150c-global-warming-threshold#:~:text=The%20first%20time%20in%20this,level%20was%20in%20December%202015.

@VQuaschning