A London-based bettor won more than $ 1.36 million on a $ 15.50 bet this week, and it all ended in a 35-1 long-shot bout in one of the longest playoffs in PGA history Trip.
The bet – a six-leg parlay or accumulator as they are known in the UK – was placed on June 22nd and paid out at odds of 90,396-1, according to Betfair, a UK-based online sports betting and betting exchange. There were two football matches at Euro 2020 and four overall winners at the weekend’s golf tournaments.
The legs of the parlay and odds were:
Croatia beats Scotland at +140.
England defeated Czech Republic at -182.
Steve Stricker wins the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship at +500.
Nelly Korda wins the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship with +1,400.
Viktor Hovland wins the BMW International Open at +650.
Harris English wins the Travelers Championship with +3,500.
“I was sure Hovland, Korda and Steve Stricker were good bets,” the unknown bettor told Betfair. “But I was a little unsure of Harris English.”
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The first five legs of the parlay were hit before English, a 35-1 long-range shot to win the tournament, made a 28-foot putt on the 18th hole on Sunday that eventually put him in a playoff against Kramer Hickok. After both golfers made seven straight pars to open the playoff, English dropped a 16-foot birdie putt to win the tournament.
The eight-hole playoff was the longest playoff in a PGA Tour event in nine years and the longest game since 1949. The tournament ended after 1:00 AM London time. English won $ 1,368,000 helping the bettor win £ 1,039,554 which is roughly the same amount as English in US dollars.
“When he won the playoff, I was very relieved. I thought he lost it on the 18th hole after some idiosyncratic tee-offs,” the bettor told Betfair in a company statement.
“I thought I was going to have a heart attack when the winner putt went. I couldn’t believe it.”
TSR Exclusive: As we inch closer to a trial for Eric Holder, the man accused of fatally shooting the late Nipsey Hussle, there are a few things both the state and Holder’s team have to work through. The Shade Room was in court today for Eric Holder’s hearing, where he declined to appear at his attorney’s suggestion over concern of how he would appear to the public. It appeared that the issue was because he was placed in waist shackles and didn’t want to appear on camera wearing them, though both parties declined to comment on the matter.
However, Eric Holder’s attorney Aaron Jansen did speak with us about why his client did come to court but did not appear. “I appeared for him on his behalf,” Jansen said. “I want to make sure when he’s displayed in front of the public, he’s portrayed in a dignified manner.”
Jansen says that Holder is in good spirits these days, but the lockdown has been tough on his mental health, which he has apparently struggled with in the past.
Holder is only let out of his cell a few hours a week and is not allowed to be around other inmates, Jansen added for context.
Holder enjoys playing basketball, but since he can’t shoot hoops with anyone else, Jansen said he plans to send him some books to help keep his mind sharp while in there. A few of the books on the list include ‘The Autobiography of Malcolm X’ and Richard Wright’s ‘Native Son.’
Honorable Judge Clay Jacke set Holder’s next court date for September. We previously reported that Holder’s case is expected to go to trial by the end of this year.
There were expected delays in the case with a new judge and new defense attorney, but Jansen assures us that Holder’s first attorney did a lot of the groundwork, so he won’t have to hold on too much longer.
It’s been a little more than two years since Nipsey Hussle was tragically gunned down in Los Angeles. The rap legend and community giant was fatally shot on March 31, 2019.
Eric Holder is accused of killing Nipsey and wounding two others in the shooting, which took place outside of Nipsey’s Marathon Clothing store.
We’ll keep you posted on any updates in Eric Holder’s case.
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It is almost as if the Australian government does not believe in the obligation to shut down coal-fired power plants and end the use of steel and alumina in industry.
Failure to model the cost of climate change for coal, gas “begs the faith” By Mike Foley and Nick Toscano
June 29, 2021 – 5.00 a.m.
Australia’s 40-year economic outlook predicts falling demand for some of the country’s most valuable exports, including coal and natural gas, after China, Japan and South Korea announced net-zero emissions targets.
But prominent think tank Grattan Institute said Monday it was “incredible” that the Morrison administration’s modeling failed to make predictions about the extent of the loss of export revenue or the effects of global warming such as drought and natural disasters.
Australia’s mining and energy exports are expected to hit a record high of $ 310 billion this fiscal year. The country’s largest export, iron ore, accounted for an all-time high of $ 149 billion, while fossil fuel exports of coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG) totaled $ 71 billion, helping keep the economy amid a deteriorating trade dispute with China to base and a global pandemic.
However, Monday’s 2021 Generation Report by the Treasury Department warned that export revenues from the emission-intensive commodities would decline as global efforts to combat climate change accelerate. It found that countries, including key trading partners Japan and South Korea, have committed to net zero emissions by 2050, while China has committed to carbon neutrality by 2060.
“These pledges from other countries, if fully implemented, will likely reduce demand for undiminished fossil fuels for several decades,” it said.
One question – if Australia’s coal, iron ore and other exports go away, what exactly will governments use to make all the wind turbines and solar panels they want to use?
Solar panels are particularly coal-intensive. Converting quartz or high-quality sand into silicon metal, which is used to make solar cells, takes huge amounts of coal, a process very similar to using a blast furnace to reduce iron ore to steel. And of course the solar panels need glass, plastic, aluminum oxide, stainless steel and concrete brackets.
Wind turbines will likely need even more coal. A wind farm built in Ohio in 2013 required 30,000 tons of cement, + what steel reinforcement was required for all of that cement. All of that cement was used to produce just 304 MW of electricity. Enough to supply a small town, at least when the wind is blowing right.
A 2017 Chinese study found that wind farms are struggling to provide 15% of the stated capacity, but let’s be generous and let’s call it 15%. So 15% x 304Mw x 365 x 24 = 399,456MWh / year.
The total US energy consumption is around 25,155 TWh / year. Multiply by a million to convert to MWh, the US needs to produce 25,155,000,000 MWh / year to replace the current energy supply.
How much cement do you need? If you scale the Ohio wind farm to meet the US energy needs with wind, you need 25,155,000,000 / 399,456 = 62,973 wind farms with the same capacity as the Ohio wind farm in 2013. Multiply by 30,000 tons of cement per Ohio-scale installation , and you need 1,889,190,000 tons of cement to build enough wind farms to meet America’s energy needs.
The USA currently produces around 100,000,000 tons of cement annually. If the US wants to achieve net zero, we need 1,889,190,000 / 100,000,000 = 18 years of cement production. Spread this out over 30 years to meet Biden’s net-zero target by 2050 without reducing supplies to other end users (you don’t want people going homeless or bridges and buildings collapsing for lack of civilian cement), and that means for In the next 30 years, US cement production should increase by 60%.
And of course, we haven’t even considered all of the cement needs for new pumped storage and other infrastructures like gravity storage or even cement walls for new battery buildings in an attempt to deal with the hourly disruption of renewable energy sources.
With a few exceptions, other countries aiming to achieve net zero are in a similar position.
Cement production is a very energy-intensive process. Large amounts of coal or natural gas are required to overheat the raw limestone matrix (calcium carbonate) and other raw materials and break them into oxides and silicates, which are components of refined cement. By breaking up the raw materials, large amounts of chemically bound CO2 are released, even without all of the CO2 released by burning any fossil fuels you choose to provide heat.
Assuming Australia maintains its share of commodity exports, Just to deliver the global net zero push, Australia expects mineral exports to grow 60% over the next 30 years.
So I suggest that the Australian government shouldn’t have to worry for a period of 30 years. Either the world will continue its business as usual, in which case mineral exports will grow more or less at their current pace, or the world will really try to reach net zero, in which case the demand for mineral exports will increase by 60% for 30 years, then the additional supplies needed to maintain all of the new concrete and steel infrastructure. Either way, Australia’s coal and iron ore export industries are winning.
What happens after 30 years? That is, frankly, someone else’s problem. Anyone who thinks it makes sense to make economic predictions over 30 years into the future must read the great horse manure crisis of 1894.
Why are economists making absurd predictions that ignore this apparent net-zero-driven surge in industrial demand?
As far as I can tell, economists ignore the industrial effort required to reach net zero in assuming that government unrealistic carbon emissions targets are absolute and will be achieved regardless of human cost. To begin with, if you assume that government regulations are set in stone, you have to assume that any industrial activity that would cause government goals to be missed will be eliminated. If there is no industry consuming Australian exports, there will be no exports.
For centuries, human beings have speculated about the existence of planetary systems (much like our own) orbiting other stars. However, it has only been in the past few decades that scientists have been able to detect and study these distant worlds. To date, astronomers have used various methods to confirm the existence of 4,422 extrasolar planets in 3,280 star systems, with an additional 7,445 candidates awaiting confirmation.
Naturally, this raises some questions. If there is intelligent life out there that has similar capabilities to our own – and the same burning sense of curiosity – could it be watching us too? Equally important is the question of how many of be able to detect us. According to new research conducted by a team from Cornell and the American Museum of Natural History, there are 2,034 star systems within 326 light-years of Earth that would be watching us right now!
This research was conducted by Lisa Kaltenegger, a professor of astronomy and director of Cornell’s Carl Sagan Institute, and astrophysicist Jackie Faherty, a senior scientist at the American Museum of Natural History. A paper that describes their findings, titled “Past, present and future stars that can see Earth as a transiting exoplanet,” was recently published in the journal Nature.
To date, the vast majority of extrasolar planets have been detected and confirmed through indirect means. Of these, the majority were found using Transit Photometry (aka. the Transit Method), where astronomers monitor stars for periodic dips in brightness that are possible indications of a planet is passing in front of the star (aka. transiting) relative to the observer.
In addition to being a highly effective means of detection, this method also provides relatively accurate constraints on an exoplanet’s size and orbital period. At times, astronomers are even able to obtain spectra from light that has passed through the exoplanet’s atmosphere during a transit, allowing them to determine its chemical composition. One minor drawback of this method is that exoplanets must orbit their parent stars edge-on from our point of view.
The same holds true for any extraterrestrial observers that may be out there. To planets orbiting other stars, Earth will only be detectable making transits if it is edge-on relative to them. This is what is known as the Earth Transit Zone (ETZ), a special region of the sky from which an extraterrestrial observer would be able to detect Earth as it passes in front of the Sun (makes a transit). As Kaltenegger explained in a Cornell Chronicle news release:
“From the exoplanets’ point-of-view, we are the aliens. We wanted to know which stars have the right vantage point to see Earth, as it blocks the Sun’s light. And because stars move in our dynamic cosmos, this vantage point is gained and lost.”
This artist’s impression shows the planet orbiting the Sun-like star HD 85512 in the southern constellation of Vela (The Sail). Credit: NASA
For the sake of their study, Kaltenegger and Faherty relied on survey data obtained by the European Space Agency’s Gaia Observatory. Specifically, they consulted data on the positions and proper motions of nearby stars that were part of the early third data release (eDR3 catalog). This data, said Faherty, is a game-changer when it comes to how other star systems would view our own:
“Gaia has provided us with a precise map of the Milky Way galaxy, allowing us to look backward and forward in time, and to see where stars had been located and where they are going. Our solar neighborhood is a dynamic place where stars enter and exit that perfect vantage point to see Earth transit the Sun at a rapid pace.”
Using this data, Kaltenegger and Faherty created a catalog of stars that have (or are yet to) pass through the ETZ during a 10,000 year period. The beginning of this period was selected to coincide with the birth of human civilization (ca. 5,000 years ago) and extend another 5,000 years into the future. Ultimately, they found that in the past 5,000 years, 1,715 star systems passed through the ETZ while another 319 will do so in the next 5,000 years.
They further found that 117 of these stars are within about 100 light-years of the Sun while 75 have been in the ETZ during the last century, coinciding with the invention of radio communications. For scientists engaged in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), radio waves are considered a viable indication of technological activity (aka. technosignature). For planets orbiting those 75 stars, our own radio waves would have been detectable.
The Green Bank Telescope monitoring the galaxy for Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs). Credit: UC Berkeley
Among the 2,034 star systems included in the catalog, Kaltenegger and Faherty also determined that seven are known to host exoplanets. These include Ross 128 b, an exoplanet comparable in size to Earth (1.8 Earth radii) that orbits a red dwarf star located about 11 light-years from Earth in the Virgo constellation. For a civilization living on this exoplanet, Kaltenneger and Faherty found that they would be able to see Earth transits from 3,057 to 900 years ago (a period of 2,158 years).
Then there’s the seven rocky exoplanets that orbit TRAPPIST-1, a red dwarf star 45 light years from Earth. Four of these planets orbit within the star’s habitable zone, meaning that they could be potentially habitable. While scientists detected these planets between , it appears as though they won’t be able to detect Earth for another 1,642 years. However, their window of opportunity for spotting us will last for 2,371 years.
Trappist-1 system, at 45 light-years from Earth, hosts seven transiting Earth-size planets – four of them in the temperate, habitable zone of that star. While we have discovered the exoplanets around Trappist-1, they won’t be able to spot us until their motion takes them into the Earth Transit Zone in 1,642 years. Potential Trappist-1 system observers will remain in the cosmic Earth transit stadium seats for 2,371 years.
“Our analysis shows that even the closest stars generally spend more than 1,000 years at a vantage point where they can see Earth transit,” said Kaltenegger. “If we assume the reverse to be true, that provides a healthy timeline for nominal civilizations to identify Earth as an interesting planet.”
Each of these worlds has had (or will have) the opportunity to detect Earth as it passes in front of our Sun relative to them. If these potential observers were able to observe Earth being backlit by the Sun, they would also have been able to obtain spectra from our atmosphere. From this, they could discern the presence of chemical elements we associate with life (aka. biosignatures), like oxygen gas, carbon dioxide, and water vapor.
This artist’s impression shows the planet Proxima b orbiting the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Solar System. Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser
Moreover, if they observed our planet in the past century, they might have also noticed the signs of industrial activity (chemical pollutants) and nuclear testing (radioactive isotopes), both of which are clear technosignatures. Later this year, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will launch to space and dedicate its advanced infrared instruments towards the characterization of exoplanets and the search for potential signs of life.
It will be followed in 2024 by the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, named after the “mother of Hubble.” This next-generation telescope will have optics comparable to that of the venerable Hubble, but will also have 100 times the field of view. Working in tandem with the JWST, Roman is expoected to aid in the discovery and characterization of tens of thousands of exoplanets.
In the coming decades, Breakthrough Starshot will attempt to send a nano-sized spacecraft to Proxima Centauri to study Proxima b, the closest exoplanet beyond the Solar System. Using a lightsail and directed energy propulsion system, this mission aims to make the journey to Proxima b in just 20 years and fully characterize the exoplanet upon arrival. Alas, says Faherty, someone from these stars may have similar plans for our planet, or even been here already and seen all there was to see:
“One might imagine that worlds beyond Earth that have already detected us, are making the same plans for our planet and solar system. This catalog is an intriguing thought-experiment for which one of our neighbors might be able to find us.”
This was always the must-watch match of the Euro 2021 Round of 16. When England and Germany meet, they hold nothing back. And in this pure soccer rivalry born out of high-stakes matches in major tournaments, Tuesday’s Euro 2021 Round of 16 elimination game has major implications.
A loss would represent a failure for both nations. But the winner will have a great shot at making the tournament final with less heralded opponents (but no less dangerous) on the horizon: Sweden/Ukraine in the quarters and then Denmark/Czech Republic in the semifinal stage.
England is considered to have the most talented squad in its history, and it’s hoping to realize that potential and win its first-ever Euros. This might be its best chance since hosting the tournament in 1996: This Round of 16 match, the tournament semis and final are all happening on its home field at Wembley Stadium in London.
MORE: Five reasons why England-Germany will be must-watch
Germany has won the Euro competition three times, but the last one came back in 1996, when the Germans knocked off England at Wembley on their way to the title. They enter this Round of 16 game with plenty of question marks from an erratic group stage and a lame-duck head coach (Joachim Low is leaving after the tournament). But they also have a long-standing reputation of rising up to win trophies when others have counted them out.
That German never-say-die spirit has intimidated many opponents in the past and it is sure to come into play on Tuesday, especially with England bearing the weight of the “favorite” designation and with good reason. In addition to playing at home, Gareth Southgate’s team didn’t concede a single goal in its group games. But it was also not terribly convincing in its performances and only scored two goals.
Mix all those ingredients together with a large 40,000-person crowd expected at Wembley, and you’ve got yourself the makings of a classic.
How to watch England-Germany in USA
Date: Tuesday, June 29
Time: 12 pm ET
TV channel: ESPN
Spanish-language TV: Univision, TUDN
Streaming: fuboTV, ESPN app, TUDN.tv
ESPN will carry England vs. Germany in English, with Univision and TUDN providing the Spanish-language coverage. Both networks are available to stream on fuboTV (free 7-day trial).
How will Germany play?
The only change that Low has made to his 3-4-3 starting lineup during the group stage has been in the front three. He brought on Leroy Sane for Thomas Muller in the third group match against Hungary.
If Low is expecting to play on the counterattack against England, the speedy Timo Werner could be the best option up top (and he’s fresh). That thinking might also influence the Muller/Sane decision, with Muller potentially proving a better option off the bench to help manage the game.
Southgate’s decisions
England has played different formations under Southgate and several English media outlets are projecting Southgate to counter Germany’s 3-4-3 with the same formation, introducing a third central defender.
But there’s no consensus on the right wingback position: Will it be Kieran Trippier, Reece James or Bukayo Saka on the right? On the left it would seem that Luke Shaw will win out over Ben Chilwell, who has been forced to self-isolate in recent days for being a close contact with a COVID-19 positive case (Scotland’s Billy Gilmour). English midfielder Mason Mount has been in Chilwell’s same boat and hasn’t trained regularly. For that reason, it would be a risk to see him thrown into this game.
MORE: Updated Euro 2021 top scorers
Many want to see Jadon Sancho in the mix given his experience against German players during his time with his club team Borussia Dortmund in Germany. But he’s only played six minutes thus far and if he features, it’d likely be off the bench.
England vs. Germany: odds & prediction
Southgate has been doing his best to downplay it, but this English team is under pressure and the weight of the expectations, the crowd and the history of failures will make for a fascinating dynamic and one that the Germans should undoubtedly play into.
Germany will be happy sitting back and letting England have the initiative and the ball. In that scenario, Low’s men will look to pounce with moments of high pressing and lightning-fast counterattacks. German attackers Kai Havertz and Timo Werner, who both play for Chelsea FC in London, have the skill sets to shine in that kind of game.
MORE: Updated Euro 2021 tournament bracket
England also doesn’t have that much of a home-field advantage: It hasn’t defeated Germany at Wembley in the last seven matches there. Given the English team we’ve seen in the group stage — tight, tense, and unsure of itself — this is not a spot you want to bet against Germany.
One of these days England will “bring it home.” But until the national team has shown that it has overcome its many complexes and is comfortable strutting among Europe’s elite, it doesn’t get the pick in this pregame forecast.
Prediction: England 1, Germany 3
Odds courtesy of DraftKings
England to win (90 mins): +138
England to advance: -130
Draw (90 minutes): +230
Germany to win (90 mins): +210
Germany to advance: +110
Germany to win and both teams to score: +500
Germany -0.25 Asian Handicap: +165
Germany +0.25 Asian Handicap: -124
Over 2.5 total goals: +108
Total ball possession by Germany under 51.5%: +120
Aiden Arthurs will receive the Pfizer BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine from pharmacist Andrew Mac (R) at the Jewish Federation / JARC offices in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan on May 13, 2021.
Jeff Kowalsky | AFP | Getty Images
The Delta variant is the most widely observed coronavirus mutation to date, and for good reason: It is more contagious than previous variants, and there is evidence that it increases the risk of hospitalization and is more resistant to vaccines.
First discovered in India late last year, where it triggered a second wave of infections and thousands of deaths, the delta variant is now spreading rapidly around the world.
Last week, the World Health Organization warned that Delta is the fastest and strongest strain of coronavirus yet and will “pick up” the most vulnerable people, especially in places with low Covid-19 vaccination rates.
Great Britain is being closely watched by other countries, especially the USA, as the delta variant has become dominant despite the high vaccination rate. It has also proven to be a harbinger of the things that will come for better and worse during the pandemic.
Who is most at risk?
Now, data has been released in England showing how far the delta variant has spread – and which groups are most susceptible to the mutation.
Delta is dominant in the UK, comprising 95% of all sequenced cases, according to the latest data from Public Health England, with younger people, unvaccinated and partially vaccinated (many people falling into one or more of these categories) at greater risk of contagion, while older people are still at greatest risk are about to die of infection.
According to the latest data from England, 92,029 cases were analyzed between the beginning of February and mid-June and assigned to the delta variant.
Almost 82,500 of these total cases were recorded in people under the age of 50, and the majority (53,822 cases) were found in unvaccinated people.
Of these cases in the unvaccinated cohort, the vast majority were in the under-50 age group (52,846 cases) and only 976 cases were in those over 50.
Still, the data showed that there were 117 deaths among people with the Delta variant in England, with the majority in the age group over 50.
There were eight deaths among those under 50, six of them in those who had not been vaccinated and the other two in those who had received a dose.
What about vaccinations?
The data from England show that cases of the delta variant were found in both partially and fully vaccinated individuals, to a lesser extent, demonstrating the importance of full vaccination.
Of the total of 92,029 infections attributed to Delta, nearly 20,000 were registered in people who received one dose of a Covid vaccine (both before and after 21 days after a first dose) and 7,235 infections were registered in people who received two doses received confirmed.
The data is intended to be a reminder that no Covid vaccine currently on offer offers one hundred percent protection, although most approved vaccines are currently very close and experts urge all unvaccinated people to come forward, as well as the importance of both doses in order to provide the best possible protection .
Separate data from Public Health England showed that two doses of the Pfizer BioNTech or AstraZeneca Oxford University shot are highly effective against hospitalizations from the Delta variant.
Britain has vaccinated its population based on age and health needs. The vaccination program began last December with healthcare workers and the elderly and progressed through the older age groups until Covid vaccinations were offered to those under 50 in mid-April.
Currently, all over 18s are offered their first doses, while others in their 30s and 40s tend to have their second dose. Almost 85% of UK adults have now received one dose of vaccine and 61.9% have received two doses, making it one of the fastest vaccination programs in the world.
“Delta predominates”
PHE updated its risk assessment of the delta variant published on Friday, saying that the delta variant is “predominant” and “continues to show a significantly increased growth rate” compared to the alpha variant first discovered in the UK, which itself dominated worldwide.
On a weekly basis, data released by PHE last Friday showed that the number of Delta-caused cases in the UK had increased by 35,204 since the previous week (an increase of 46%) to a total of 111,157 cases.
PHE found that the Delta variant also had an increased risk of hospitalization compared to the Alpha variant, and there is now analysis from England and Scotland showing previous evidence that Delta reduced vaccine effectiveness compared to the Alpha variant and that this is more pronounced when someone has only received one dose.
On the positive side, PHE reiterated that “the analysis continues to show that the vaccine against Delta is highly effective after 2 doses” and that the evidence continues to suggest that hospital vaccines are effective.
Ed Sheeran and Courteney Cox have made some memories that they may not want to keep photos of in the pockets of their ripped jeans.
The 30-year-old “Photograph” singer was a guest on Monday June 28th on the Late Late Show, where the host James Corden asked Ed if he would run into best friend Courteney when visiting Los Angeles. Ed explained that since a mutual friend introduced him to Courteney, the Grammy-winning winner has enjoyed ordering unexpected items to come to his friend’s apartment.
According to the Bad Habits actor, Courteney once proudly told him she could buy anything she wanted from her Alexa device. This somehow led him to order what he called “an SM leather gimp mask” how to do it.
“So she walks out of the room and I say, ‘Alexa, order me a leather gimp mask,'” Ed said with a laugh. “Without my knowledge, Courteney’s assistant opened the post and she found this mask and immediately said, ‘Oh, I don’t think I should see this,’ and left it on Courteney’s bed. And Courteney comes up and she’s … like, ‘Where did that come from?’ “
The manufacturing industry is in an almost constant state of evolution. The way we make things — from cars to shoes to dental floss — has changed dramatically over the past 100 years, and surely the next 100 will be just as dramatic. So what big changes are on the horizon? What does the near future of manufacturing look like? To get a hint, we spoke with a Willem Sundblad, founder and CEO of Oden Technologies, and all-around manufacturing expert. Here are three big things that he says we can expect to see in manufacturing in the coming years:
Rebuilding for resiliency
Over the past year, the manufacturing sector was rocked by a series of unexpected disruptions. The first (and most profound) was the coronavirus pandemic, which not only caused widespread factory shutdowns, but also led to a massive shift in people’s consumption patterns. This ultimately created shortages for a broad range of goods — everything from condoms to aluminum cans to computer chips. And that was just the beginning.
Xinhua/Wu Huiwo / Getty Images
“COVID was one thing,” says Sundblad, “but we’ve had other disruptions as well. The ripple effects of the Suez Canal blockage are still happening, for example. Then there were the winter storms in Texas earlier this year, which knocked out the whole petrochemical feedstock industry, which goes into everything that’s made out of plastic, which is a lot of stuff.”
Taken as a whole, these events have laid bare the fragility of global supply chains. We’ve now seen direct evidence of how a seemingly small and isolated incident can create a ripple effect that brings an entire industry to a grinding halt — and Sundblad suggests that the past year has made manufacturers acutely aware of that vulnerability. Over the next few years, he expects that many will make moves to restructure their operations to make them more resilient in the face of disruption.
“What you really want to do,” says Sundblad “is foster a better ecosystem in the U.S. with closer links between customers and suppliers so that you can handle disruptions in a much better way and actually have an ecosystem that is closer to you so that you don’t have to ship everything from China.”
Weathering workforce shortages
As if volatile supply chains weren’t challenging enough, Sundblad also anticipates that the manufacturing sector will face increasing shortages in workers over the next few years. Why? To put it simply, more people are retiring from manufacturing jobs than are entering the field.
“This has actually been the discussion in manufacturing for years,” says Sundblad, “because you have an older workforce that is retiring with a lot of domain knowledge. Then on top of that, there’s just not enough young people who want to go into manufacturing.”
Sundblad suggests the latter is less an issue of job availability than it is one of job attractiveness. There are plenty of manufacturing jobs out there, but working in a factory and making parts just isn’t as enticing as working for a trendy Silicon Valley software startup that has a ping pong table in the break room and free kombucha on tap.
“If you want to attract young people into manufacturing,” Sundblad says, “you have to make it something that’s really compelling. And that means offering new digital tools, making really cool things that truly have an impact, and giving people a chance to see the the fruits of their labor. I think these are things that young people really want.”
Tech to the rescue?
It’s not all doom and gloom, though. Despite the challenges that the manufacturing industry is currently facing (and will face in the coming years), Sundblad remains optimistic. With the right technology deployments, he thinks it’s entirely possible to alleviate some of the industry’s looming problems.
Getty
“COVID was a massive catalyst of new technology being adopted in manufacturing,” he explains. “For example, augmented reality was a nice shiny toy before COVID. It was one of those things that was nice to have, but not essential — so nobody actually used it. But then, when people suddenly couldn’t travel to factories and we had to minimize the amount of people that could work on factory floors, AR was a huge asset. With the right tech, operators on the factory floor could get real time guidance from technicians, and actually solve problems faster.”
In addition to AR, Sundblad says manufacturers are also rapidly adopting technologies like machine learning, A.I., and industrial IoT — and not just so they can replace factory workers, either. Instead, these systems are often meant to aid human laborers and make certain jobs easier to perform.
“These tools allow manufacturers to really analyze and optimize how they’re making their things,” he says. “If you do that, you can make things faster, you can make things more efficiently, and you can save both materials and energy. It’s a sustainability boost for everyone.”
So while technology certainly won’t solve all the world’s manufacturing woes, there’s good reason to believe it could help manufacturers become more stable, resilient, and efficient than ever before.
Decades of activist science by Australian scientists has now resulted in the Great Barrier Reef possibly being labeled “in danger” by the Chinese-led UN World Heritage Committee.
Testimony from the reef’s scientific watchdogs, AIMS and GBRMPA, has led to this disastrous situation. See Appendix “A”.
“While the reef is already experiencing the effects of climate change …” Josh Thomas CEO GBRMPA; Outlook 2019 report.
Outlook 2019;
Climate change threatens the reef and other world heritage areas around the world. Australia is now taking care of a modified and less resilient reef. Global action against climate change is vital.
However, there is a good set of data to suggest that these statements are exaggerated.
Every year since 1986, AIMS has conducted surveys of the 11 GBR sectors that measure Crown of Thorns (COTS) and the percentage of stony coral coverage. These surveys have been described by Peter Ridd as “good quality control systems”.
These 11 sectors contain 135 separate reefs. Not all of these reefs are examined every year. This can lead to inaccuracies as some reefs are naturally less covered than others.
Even so, this is still the best data set we have for assessing GBR health over a period of time when CO2 levels have increased significantly. The most recent survey has an average hard coral cover of 28% for all 11 sectors in 2021, which is the same as in 1986.
The dataset used here is. https://www.aims.gov.au/…/reef/latest-surveys.html…
Two of the sectors, Pompey and Swains, have experienced significant COTS infestations from 2005 to date. Pompey also suffered from 4 cyclones from 2009 to 2017 which significantly reduced coral cover. The three El Ninos in 2016, 2017 and 2020 also tended to reduce coral cover.
Figure 1 shows the hard coral cover with Pompey and Swains removed to correct for some of these factors.
Figure 1. Hard coral cover for 9 of the 11 sectors. Pompey and Swains away.
Figure 2 below shows the hard coral cover for the entire data set with nothing removed.
Figure 2, Hard coral cover for the entire AIMS dataset of 11 sectors.
You will notice a decrease in coverage from 2006 to around 2012 that seems significant. This decline is partly explained by the COTS outbreaks in the Pompey and Swains sectors, as seen in Figures 1 and 2. The GBR also suffered 4 major cyclones in 2006 and it may have taken some time to recover.
Cyclone activity has generally not increased in the GBR reef region, it even appears to have decreased slightly. See figure 3.
Figure 3, Cyclone activity for Eastern Australia from the BOM website. Blue are less severe cyclones, while orange is more severe cyclones.
We are constantly told that cyclones are becoming more common and severe because of human carbon emissions. The BOM record in Figure 3 does not support this representation.
The unusually large number of severe cyclones in 2006 is therefore likely a coincidence and could explain part of the decline in coral cover from 2006 to 2012.
Activist scientists have consistently blamed the COTS outbreaks on nutrient runoff from farms, etc. This fails the pub test. The outbreaks at Pompey’s and Swains occur exclusively in central or outer reefs that are 50 or more kilometers from the coast. It is almost impossible to pollute the GBR as it is fed and drained by massive ocean currents that replace the entire body of water every 2 to 3 weeks. COTS infestation is likely part of the natural ebb and flow of a beautiful ecosystem.
Tropical water does not heat up easily because it is exposed to large convection forces and evaporation, which dampen any possible temperature rise. For this reason, the exact AIMS dataset with over 500 individual measurement points shows no warming of the sea surface in the GBR since 1994. Something activists should keep in mind when trying to blame global warming for the sinking of the reef.
Reefs also prefer warmer water. They grow almost twice as fast in the warm tropics around New Guinea and Indonesia as on the GBR. The activists should consider something else.
The important point here is that by 2021 the reef has recovered well, as any healthy ecosystem will. This does not mean that we are not studying this complex ecosystem and trying to understand it. Hard Coral Cover’s AIMS monitoring is an example of the type of program that needs funding.
4 ABC-Radio-National. (2016). Widespread coral bleaching discovered on the Great Barrier Reef. [online] Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/…/widespread-coral…/7212760
Josh Thomas CEO GBRMPA; Outlook 2019 report.
“While the reef is already experiencing the effects of climate change, we can change its future – and we are determined to change. Local, national and global action against the reef’s greatest threats is needed now.
…
“Gradual increases in sea temperature and extremes such as sea heat waves are the most immediate threats to the reef as a whole and pose the greatest risk. Global action against climate change is vital,” he said.
Outlook 2019;
Climate change threatens the reef and other world heritage areas around the world. Australia is now taking care of a modified and less resilient reef. Global action against climate change is vital.
GBRMPA; Blueprint for Action, 2018
Climate change is the greatest threat to the future survival of the Great Barrier Reef. There is an urgent need to stem global warming as climate-related disruptions exceed the reef’s ability to recover.
Australian Dept. of Environment and Energy,
Party report, January 12, 2019.
“However, essential components that underpin all four natural heritage criteria for which the World Heritage area was registered in 1981 have deteriorated since its registration.
One criterion – habitats for the preservation of diversity – is rated as poor, which agrees with the assessment results in Chapter 2. Given the accelerating effects of climate change, the overall rating of the reef’s world and national heritage is good, marginally poor. “
ENGLEWOOD, Colorado – Demaryius Thomas announced his retirement from the NFL for the four-time Pro Bowl selection in a typically low-key manner on Monday.
Quietly off the field, eager to be successful, Thomas – known as “DT” to most of the Denver Broncos – simply sat down for a short video and opened with:
“I’m Demaryius Thomas. I finally made the decision to give it up … I’m retiring and I’m going to retire a Denver Bronco … I’m done and I did well.”
“I’m Demaryius Thomas, and I finally made up my mind to give it up. I’m going to retire, and I’m going to retire a Denver Bronco.” pic.twitter.com/Q6nNrxc59B
– Denver Broncos (@Broncos) June 28, 2021
Thomas, 33, will be honored by the Broncos in their home opener on September 26 against the New York Jets, the team he ended his career with in 2019.
Thomas was the first of two first-round picks for the Broncos in the 2010 NFL Draft – Tim Tebow was the other – and spent nine seasons with the Broncos, ending his career as the team’s runner-up receiver (9,055 yards). behind just Rod Smith. He is third in franchise history by the Catches (655) behind Smith and Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe.
He played a total of 10 seasons, finishing with 724 catches for 9,763 yards with 63 touchdowns.
“DT was the all-in-one wide receiver that has become one of the best in the role,” said John Elway, president of Broncos Football Operations, in a statement announcing the news. “The combination of his size, speed, strength and sportiness was unsurpassed. The remarkable consistency and performance of Demaryius were instrumental in our offensive setting historic records and our team winning many games, including two AFC championships and Super Bowl 50. ”
Thomas had a foot injury in his first two seasons in the NFL – he was injured prior to the 2010 draft – but flourished well and with the arrival of Peyton Manning in 2012 to at least 90 receptions and 1,300 yards in four consecutive seasons, along with the Hall of Famers Marvin Harrison and Jerry Rice and the Rams legend Torry Holt as the only players who reached these sums in four consecutive seasons.
The Broncos’ record season in 2013 – Manning set NFL records for passing yards (5,477) and touchdowns (55) when the Broncos hit a league record of 606 points that year – Thomas finished the best of his career with 14 touchdowns. He finished the following season with a career best at 1,619 yards.
Thomas routinely said that Manning revealed parts of the game that enabled Thomas to improve his game. Manning had called Thomas one of the best receivers he’d played with in his career. When Manning’s children came to practice, Thomas was regularly the first player they ran to because the players had become close friends.
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Thomas caught Manning’s 509th career touchdown pass, which set Manning the career record at the time. A picture of Manning and Thomas posing with a handwritten sign after the game was displayed in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
For many of the team’s devotees, Thomas’ signature game is the 80-yard catch-and-run touchdown after a brief pass from Tebow in the first game of overtime that gave the Broncos a win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC wilderness gift card game after the 2011 season.
“Because Demaryius was so humble and quiet during his nine years with our organization, you would never have thought that he would be such a dominant player in our league,” said Bronco’s CEO Joe Ellis. “DT was an integral part of one of the greatest crimes of all time, which set record numbers and left Broncos fans with so many unforgettable memories. I’ve never heard Empower Field louder at Mile High than his winning touchdown in extra time against the Steelers in the playoffs. ”
Thomas’ teammates, coaches, and friends have often pointed out everything he had to overcome to make it to Georgia Tech first and then the NFL. His mother, Katina Smith, was jailed for drug offenses when Thomas was 11 years old. With his father in the military, Thomas began to work before school and collected corn, peas and butter beans for the farmers to earn a living.
His mother’s sentence was commuted by President Barack Obama in 2015, and Smith saw her son play soccer for the first time in person in the Broncos’ playoff win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in January 2016.
Manning, kneeling at the last game of the game, gave Thomas the soccer ball from that game to give to Thomas’ mother.
