Wildfires Are Contaminating Water Supplies

Wildfires Are Contaminating Water Supplies

If you stood on the banks of the Cache la Poudre River in Colorado after the 2020 Cameron Peak Fire, the rumbling water may have appeared black. This slurry of ash and charred soil cascaded toward the reservoirs that supply drinking water for the downstream city of Fort Collins, home to around 170,000 people. Although … Read more

A Rare Coincidence of La Niña Events Will Weaken Hurricane Season

A Rare Coincidence of La Niña Events Will Weaken Hurricane Season

While much weaker than their Pacific counterpart, Atlantic Niñas can, however, partially counteract La Niñas by weakening summer winds that help drive the upwelling that cools the eastern Pacific. Why Are Both Happening Now? In July and August 2024, meteorologists noted cooling that appeared to be the development of an Atlantic Niña along the equator. … Read more

Scientists Plan ‘Doomsday’ Vault on Moon

Scientists Plan ‘Doomsday’ Vault on Moon

Thanga and his team have sketched a system that would use solar panels and batteries to provide the power to push temperatures inside a lava tube down to the deep freeze needed to create their lunar ark. This is the defining difference between Thanga’s design and Hagedorn’s thought experiment. Where Thanga’s group would aim to … Read more

Stop Flashing Your Brights At Traffic Lights, It Doesn’t Change Anything

Stop Flashing Your Brights At Traffic Lights, It Doesn’t Change Anything

Drivers proceed through a four-way intersection as traffic lights sit dark August 15, 2003 in Royal Oak, Michigan.Photo: Bill Pugliano (Getty Images) There are few things in this world that are more mildly infuriating than being stopped at a deserted intersection at a red light that just won’t change. You have already read my article … Read more

Wet Cybertruck Catches Fire After Hitting Fire Hydrant

Wet Cybertruck Catches Fire After Hitting Fire Hydrant

Tesla’s flagship Cybertruck electric pickup does not like water. The truck has been bricked going into car washes, got stranded on the banks of a small European lake and now a Cybertruck has burst into flames after hitting a fire hydrant that drenched its battery pack. Tesla’s Cybertruck Has Finally Arrived The latest Cybertruck fire … Read more

China’s Zeekr to launch first electric SUV, priced to undercut Tesla’s Model Y

China’s Zeekr to launch first electric SUV, priced to undercut Tesla’s Model Y

Geely-backed Zeekr is releasing an electric SUV in direct competition with Tesla’s Model Y. Zeekr Electric vehicle company Zeekr announced Friday that it would launch its first SUV in China next month, undercutting Tesla’s Model Y pricing in the country by over $1,400. The Zeekr 7X, priced at 239,900 yuan ($33, 829), is the Chinese … Read more

We Still Haven’t Figured Out How Self-Driving Cars Should Make Life-Or-Death Decisions

We Still Haven’t Figured Out How Self-Driving Cars Should Make Life-Or-Death Decisions

Autonomous cars are coming. Slowly. The rosy predictions that we heard back in 2016 proved to be overblown, and research and development have cost companies billions and billions of dollars, but robotaxis are already on the road today. It hasn’t gone perfectly, but it’s going. So how are companies approaching the ethical issues surrounding the … Read more

Utilities face looming crunch as electricity demand from AI surges

Utilities face looming crunch as electricity demand from AI surges

Power lines and transmission towers near the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System in the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County, California, U.S., on Saturday, Feb. 19. 2022. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images Artificial intelligence could strain the U.S. electric grid, as power demand from data centers is poised to surge in the coming decade … Read more

Iceland cave collapse shows ‘incredibly’ dangerous risk of summer visits – National

Iceland cave collapse shows ‘incredibly’ dangerous risk of summer visits – National

A deadly ice cave collapse in Iceland has raised safety concerns and prompted calls for stricter rules for tourist expeditions that can be especially dangerous in the summer. An American tourist died after an ice cave collapsed at the Breidamerkurjokull glacier in southeastern Iceland on Sunday. Another woman, also from the United States, was injured in … Read more

Microplastics in your drink? UBC develops cheap, portable plastic particle detector

Microplastics in your drink? UBC develops cheap, portable plastic particle detector

By Staff The Canadian Press Posted August 27, 2024 3:10 pm 2 min read Descrease article font size Increase article font size Researchers at the University of British Columbia say they’ve come up with a portable device that can cheaply detect the amount of microplastics in drinks and other liquids. Tianxi Yang, who developed the … Read more