Month: September 2022

Categories
Science

The Photo voltaic Orbiter was struck by a coronal mass ejection simply because it was about to fly by Venus

The Solar Orbiter was struck by a coronal mass ejection just as it was about to fly by Venus

Massive solar storms on the Sun are becoming more frequent as it transitions into a period of increasing solar activity as part of Solar Cycle 25, expected to peak in 2025. There is a spacecraft that will be positioned very well to capture this increasing activity. Solar Orbiter is currently 25% complete on its ten-year mission to observe the Sun. By 2025 it will be closer than ever to our parent star and has already started observing some fantastic phenomena from our sun.

One of these spectacular phenomena occurred recently during a gravity-assist solar orbiter received from Venus. The Sun had a coronal mass ejection (CME) toward Venus and the orbiter. It was almost as if he were jealous that the satellite that was supposed to be studying him was nestled against another celestial body.

Obviously, the orbiter’s presence is not the reason for the Sun’s decision to discharge onto the second planet. And finally, being hit by such an intense solar storm didn’t have any harmful effects on the probe, mainly because it was specifically designed to observe phenomena like the CME.

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ESA video describing the Solar Orbiter mission
Source – ESA YouTube channel

Some of Solar Orbiter’s instruments had to be shut down due to sunlight reflecting off Venus itself. That means they missed collecting data on this CME. Some other instruments stayed on, however, and detected an increase in the number of energetic solar particles near the probe.

There is much we still don’t understand about the heliophysics and the underlying causes of these solar storms. Solar Orbiter itself is just one of several ships actively measuring the sun. One, known as the Vigil, will help us determine the direction of solar storms.

It’s currently difficult to determine whether the storms are heading straight for Earth or straight away — particles from storms in either direction appear like halos around the Sun. But from Vigil’s planned vantage point, the Earth-Sun L5 Lagrange point, it will have a unique vantage point to monitor space weather that could potentially affect Earth and all of its infrastructure.

UT video describing the Solar Orbiter mission

As these additional missions ramp up, Solar Orbiter picks up more of them, eventually planning to become the fastest-moving object ever built by humans. It will continue to monitor the Sun and use Venus as gravitational support for the duration of its mission. The CME she recently suffered will certainly not be the last she will deal with either.

Learn more:
ESA – Coronal mass ejection hits Solar Orbiter ahead of Venus flyby
UT – Solar Orbiter’s images of the Sun are as dramatic as you’d hoped
UT – A colossal flare erupted from the far side of the sun
UT – Two spacecraft fly past Venus just 33 hours apart

main image:
Artist’s impression of the sun’s orbit around the sun.
Credit – ESA/ATG medialab

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Categories
Technology

The following large factor in science is already in your pocket

The next big thing in science is already in your pocket

Supercomputers are an integral part of modern science. By crunching numbers and performing calculations that would take us humans eons to perform, they help us do things that would otherwise be impossible, such as: But that computing power comes at a price—literally. Supercomputer dependent research is notoriously expensive. It’s not uncommon for research organizations to pay upwards of $1,000 for a single hour of supercomputer usage, sometimes more depending on the hardware required.

But recently, instead of relying on large, expensive supercomputers to process their numbers, more and more scientists are turning to another method: distributed supercomputing. You’ve probably heard of it before. Rather than relying on a single, centralized computer to perform a specific task, this crowdsourcing style of computing sources computing power from a distributed network of volunteers, typically by running specialized software on home PCs or smartphones. Individually, these volunteer computers aren’t particularly powerful, but if you string together enough of them, their collective performance can easily dwarf that of a centralized supercomputer—and often at a fraction of the cost.

In recent years, these kinds of peer-to-peer computing projects have seen something of a renaissance, and as the computing power of our devices continues to improve, it seems like the next big thing in science could be the smartphone in your pocket.

The Birth and the Rise

The concept of volunteer computing has been around for decades, but it wasn’t until the late 1990s – when personal computers had made their way into a large number of US homes – that it really began to take hold.

In 1999, researchers at UC Berkeley and Stanford launched two projects that received considerable media attention and wide acceptance: SETI@home, which encouraged PC users to log in and use their CPUs to analyze radio telescope data, and Folding@home, which used this computing power to fold complex proteins.

wrinkles@home

Both projects were huge hits with the public. In fact, SETI@Home saw such a surge in initial interest that it overwhelmed the project’s servers and caused frequent crashes. But after that breakthrough success, interest eventually waned, waned, and eventually prompted the project’s creators to shelve it after 20 years.

However, Folding@home did not suffer the same fate. Around the time that the SETI@home project was coming to an end, an opportunity for Folding@home to shine came: the COVID-19 outbreak. Shortly after the outbreak of the pandemic, more than a million new volunteers joined the project, effectively creating the world’s fastest supercomputer – one that is more powerful than the top 500 traditional supercomputers combined. Their task was simple but crucial to cracking some of the most complex diseases including COVID-19: folding proteins.

Proteins are crucial to understanding how, for example, a virus responds to and contaminates the human immune system. In their original state, proteins exist in a folded form and unfold to bind and suppress our body’s defenses, for example. To design therapeutics, scientists run simulations to study a protein’s unfolding sequence – but it’s a very resource-intensive and time-consuming process. This is where Folding@home comes into play. Not only does it drastically reduce costs, but it also speeds up development by months and, in some cases, years.

Once Folding@home volunteers install software, their machines take over part of a larger task and process it in the background. The results are sent back via the cloud to the research group’s laboratories, where they are collected and verified.

The results were groundbreaking on several occasions. In 2021, thanks in large part to the increasing computing power of Folding@home, scientists were able to figure out why the variants of COVID-19 were more devastating. Additionally, it helped develop a COVID-19 antiviral drug that is now moving toward clinical trials. In addition, Folding@home has also enabled a number of significant breakthroughs in other diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and cancer.

Without crowdsourcing computing, Dr. Gregory R. Bowman, director of Folding@home and associate professor at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri: “This work would have cost hundreds of millions of dollars in the cloud, making it economically unfeasible for us or most others power.” He added, “The computing power is groundbreaking.”

A new kind of Citizen Science

Excitingly, projects like Folding@home aren’t the only way scientists are harnessing the power of smartphones. Sometimes raw computing power isn’t particularly important, and researchers simply need a broader range of information – information that only thousands of people around the world can collect and deliver.

For example, in March this year, the European Space Agency launched its Camaliot campaign, which aims to improve weather apps by making creative use of the GPS receiver in people’s Android phones. You see, whenever your phone pings satellites for navigation, they reply with the time and their location, and phones calculate where they are based on how long each message took to arrive. The time it takes for each signal can better inform scientists about the properties of the atmosphere, such as: B. the amount of water vapor in it, which in turn can help predict more accurate rain forecasts. However, the ESA team can only conduct this activity from a limited number of locations.

The Camaliot app allows Android phone owners from all over the world to contribute to ESA’s project. It repeatedly pings satellites from people’s phones and sends the collected response data back to ESA’s base.

With Camaliot, ESA hopes to collect data from areas like Africa that are of high interest from an ionospheric perspective and that are not well covered by the agency’s geospatially-constrained centralized methods, according to Vicente Navarro, the European Space Agency’s Directorate of Science and lead on the Camaliot campaign, Digital Trends said.

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But the question remains: why would anyone borrow their device’s power for free? In addition to increased electricity bills, it also affects the performance and health of your phones and computers. But even with those downsides, for many like Jeffrey Brice, a sound designer who’s been folding proteins since 2007, the answer is pretty simple: do good.

“I was interested in cryptocurrency for a while,” Brice said, “but using the same hardware for Folding@home seemed like a better, more ethical and more philanthropic use of the gear.”

For others it is a source of passive income. To encourage participation, some leading Folding@home groups have set up donation-led crypto communities, giving out currencies like Dogecoin each week based on contributions. Camaliot also rewards its top contributors with coupons.

As computer chips find their way into almost everything, Josh Smith, founder of CureCoin, a cryptocurrency rewarding Folding@home volunteers, sees an even brighter future for crowd-sourced science projects. “If we meet our high capacity goals, the domino effect on the future of our planet will be something that will never be forgotten,” he said.

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Categories
Entertainment

Kendall Jenner and Devin Booker carry out on the US Open and NYFW occasion

Kendall Jenner and Devin Booker perform at the US Open and NYFW event

Stronger than ever.

A day after walking the runway at the Proenza Schouler show during New York Fashion Week, Kendall Jenner attended the Marni Spring 2023 ready-to-wear fashion show in Brooklyn on September 10, where she was joined by her resuscitated boyfriend Devin Booker.

Sitting side-by-side in the front row, the supermodel wore a floral fit-and-flare gown by the Italian luxury fashion house, styled with black tights and black knee-high stiletto boots, while the NBA star kept his cool vibe in a blush pink Sweatshirt combined with shorts and sunglasses.

The following day, Kendall, 26, and Devin, 25, were seen sharing a suite at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens while watching the men’s final at the 2022 US Open.

The two were caught cheering on tennis pros Kasper Ruud from Norway and Carlo Alcaraz of Spain in a video posted by the tournament’s official Instagram page. The 9/11 clip was cleverly captioned, “DEVIN BOOKER AND KENDALL JENNER KEEP UP WITH THE US OPEN.”

Categories
Science

BRICS beginnt, der Tragödie der westlichen Energiepolitik auszuweichen – Watt damit?

BRICS beginnt, der Tragödie der westlichen Energiepolitik auszuweichen – Watt damit?

Aus dem BOE-BERICHT

6. September 2022 7:25 Uhr Terry Etam

Als ich einen Sommer damit verbrachte, Energiediskussionen wo immer möglich zu vermeiden (härter als normal; lustig, wie uninteressant 15 Jahre energiepolitisches Unglück waren, bis Rekordstromrechnungen JQ Publics Augäpfel versengten), brachten die faulen Tage in der Sonne die nötige Klarheit über die Energiewelt, eine Welt, über die ein schierer Wahnsinn hereingebrochen ist (Trudeau/Deutschland/LNG-Betteln/Wasserstoff-Angebot – muss ich mehr sagen?).

Den Globus zu umkreisen ist ein energetischer Aufruhr und Umbruch von sicherlich historischen Ausmaßen (ich kann nicht sagen, dass es der größte ist; ich habe sie nicht alle gesehen). Das Problem ist offensichtlich genug – ein Mangel an billiger, zuverlässiger Energie (oder genauer gesagt, deren gezielte Entfernung) – aber die Lösungen, die verbreitet werden, scheinen völlig losgelöst von jeglicher Art von Realität zu sein (wieder Trudeau/Deutschland/LNG/Wasserstoff). . Wie kann das sein? Wie entwickelt sich die Welt auf solch selbstmörderische Weise, wenn Regierungen die Schlinge legen?

In der Sonne zu liegen, Meeresfrüchte von der Ostküste zu verdauen und Bier zu trinken, erwies sich als viel produktiver, als ich gedacht hatte. Ein paar Weltereignisse des letzten Jahrzehnts nahmen im Nebel Form an als massive Säulen, die die Energiewelt für das nächste halbe Jahrhundert definieren werden. Die Katalogisierung dieser Säulen ist kein Index menschlichen Elends oder Leidens; diese bewegen die Welt auf unterschiedliche Weise. Nein, das sind meiner Meinung nach die bestimmenden Datenpunkte der kommenden Energiezukunft.

Der erste auf der Liste ist Psys Goofball-Hit „Gangnam Style“.

Zweitens war ein Kommentar in der Telefonkonferenz zu den Ergebnissen von Disney für das zweite Quartal 2022, in der Folgendes festgestellt wurde: „[Streaming] Die Wachstumserwartungen wurden gesenkt, nachdem Disney die Cricket-Rechte für die beliebte indische Premier League nicht verlängert hatte.“

Drittens war ein absolut nicht berichtenswerter Aufsatz, den ich auf einer sozialistischen Rebellions-Website von einem jungen australischen Klimaaktivisten gelesen habe, der unter Kampfmüdigkeit leidet.

Schließlich, und um es ordentlich zu vervollständigen, kam der allgemeine Nachrichtenfluss/Stimmung, der vom BRICS-Phänomen ausging.

Ich wäre überhaupt nicht überrascht, wenn Ihre Liste ähnlich wäre, aber im unwahrscheinlichen Fall ist dies nicht der Fall. Hier ist, warum diese bemerkenswert sind. Die Logik hielt sogar an, nachdem der Alkohol aus meinem Blutkreislauf verschwunden war, was immer der erste entscheidende Schritt zum wahren Verständnis ist.

Die ersten beiden Punkte sind stark miteinander verbunden, fast gleich aus der Perspektive der Energietektonik. Psy, falls Sie sich nicht erinnern, ist ein südkoreanischer Popstar (ich bin mir ziemlich sicher, dass das „Süden“ unnötig ist, aber bitte schön, Fans der Pedanterie), der aus dem Nichts einen absolut einzigartigen Hit in den USA landete Totpunkt des westlichen Bewusstseins. Das Video wurde 4,5 Milliarden Mal angesehen. Ich habe es allein ungefähr 0,5 Milliarden Mal gesehen; es ist ziemlich lustig.

Was am Erfolg des Liedes/Videos so bedeutend war, war, dass es aus einer völlig fremden Kultur stammte. Das sind wir nicht gewohnt. Westeuropa und Nordamerika definieren die Popkultur seit einem halben Jahrhundert. Die Welt will aussehen wie Tom Cruise, nicht wie Kim Jong Il. Natürlich haben andere Regionen ihre eigenen dominanten Kulturen, aber die westliche war der vorherrschende globale Standard. (Wenn Ihnen dieses Beispiel nicht gefällt, bedenken Sie Folgendes: Zwei britische Unternehmen (WGSN und Coloro/Ascencial) entscheiden irgendwie für die Welt, „welche Farben im nächsten Jahr angesagt sind“, und sie arbeiten mit chinesischen Textilfabriken zusammen, um dies zu verwirklichen. Ich weiß, dass dies der Fall ist, durch den folgenden Hinweis: ein Artikel auf einer Design-Website mit dem Titel „WGSN und Coloro kündigen an, welche Farben 2023 angesagt sein werden“.)

„Gangnam Style“ zeigte, dass diese Dominanz zumindest etwas nachließ oder dass der Westen ein besonders starkes Interesse an etwas Popkulturellem zeigte, das nicht von ihm selbst stammte (ich weiß, ich weiß, es gibt eine Million kleiner Beispiele davon aber 4,5 Milliarden Views…).

Disneys Ertragsprobleme spiegeln in ähnlicher Weise eine neue Art der Globalisierung wider, die ironischerweise stattfindet, während andere Globalisierungen auseinanderfallen (zum Beispiel „freier Handel“ schwindet schnell, während Länder sich bemühen, das Lebensnotwendige zu sichern). Vor zehn oder zwanzig Jahren wurden die Einnahmen von Disney vom Erfolg ihrer Filme, Themenparks und damit verbundenen Merchs dominiert – denken Sie einmal an „Euro Disney“, einen Versuch, das La-La-Land nach Europa zu exportieren. Jetzt hängen Disneys Gewinne zumindest zu einem erheblichen Teil davon ab, dass … das Unternehmen sich die Cricket-Rechte der indischen Premier League sichert?!?! Disney, Eckpfeiler der NA-Popkultur, sucht jetzt nach Wachstum in einem völlig ausländischen Markt (ich würde wetten, dass die nicht-indische Bevölkerung der USA, die indisches Cricket der ersten Liga sieht, in einen Ford F-150 passen würde).

Ich überspringe die dritte Säule für eine Sekunde und komme zu BRICS – ein Akronym für Brasilien/Russland/Indien/China/Südafrika. Dieser Block wurde vor ein oder zwei Jahrzehnten gegründet, um Bereiche von gemeinsamem Interesse zu diskutieren, die außerhalb dessen liegen, was der Westen wollte/vorschrieb, oder als Reaktion darauf. BRICS ist in der Vergangenheit aus mehreren Gründen sehr wichtig geworden: Erstens haben andere wirtschaftlich bedeutende Länder kürzlich Interesse an einem Beitritt bekundet, und zweitens erzwingt oder bildet der russische Krieg in der Ukraine auf die eine oder andere Weise neue Allianzen und Handelsbeziehungen aus purer Notwendigkeit. Die BRICS-Länder mit vielen Mündern (insbesondere Indien und China) sind sehr daran interessiert, mit dem wahnsinnigen Führer eines Landes zu sprechen, das diese Mäuler füttern und Öl, Erdgas und Düngemittel usw. liefern kann. Dies ist eine riesige Welt Wandel, und in einer Welt der Produkt-/Mineral-/Energie-/Nahrungsmittelknappheit wird die Notwendigkeit alles andere übertrumpfen.

Damit kommen wir schließlich zur vierten Säule, den müden Klimaaktivisten in Australien. In einem Essay mit dem Titel „There’s No Place for Burnout in a Burning World“ beschreibt der erschöpfte Typ seine Erschöpfung, nachdem er mehr als ein Jahrzehnt „sein Leben dem Kampf gegen den Klimawandel gewidmet“ hat. Er berichtet, wie er im Alter von 14 Jahren über seinen Vater Al Gores Horrorfilm „Eine unbequeme Wahrheit“ gesehen hatte und wie seine Angst vor Gores Wahrheit ihn zu einer solchen Hingabe des Lebens führte.

Hier ist der Faden zu all dem auf den Punkt gebracht: Der ausgebrannte Aktivist ist ein perfektes Symbol für die reflexartige Angstreaktion „Erst zielen, dann schießen“, die das westliche Denken beherrscht (noch einmal Trudeau/Deutschland/LNG/Wasserstoff). Wenn Sie denken, dass die Welt in Flammen steht (buchstäblich im Leben dieses Aktivisten; kurz nachdem er Gores Film gesehen hatte, erlebte er aus erster Hand Australiens riesige Brände vor einigen Jahren, die in seinem Kopf wie Beton die „Tatsache“ verfestigten, dass die Welt brannte tatsächlich). Einmal in dieser Denkweise, selbst wenn es im nächsten oder übernächsten Jahr keine Brände in seiner Welt gibt, gibt es irgendwo auf der Welt – und unsere Medien lassen uns das rund um die Uhr wissen.

Große Teile der westlichen Welt glauben immer noch, dass sie die Show kontrollieren (bezeugen Sie nordamerikanische/europäische Interessen, die versuchen, die afrikanische Entwicklung von Kohlenwasserstoffen zu hemmen, wie der aktivistische amerikanische Poindexter Bill McKibben, der in der britischen sozialistischen Zeitschrift The Guardian schreibt, dass „wir“ die ostafrikanischen stoppen müssen Ölpipeline jetzt).

Täuschen Sie sich nicht – beim Kampf um das „Klima“ dreht sich alles um Kontrolle. Wenn der müde und verlorene australische Aktivist und all seine Mitkämpfer es ernst meinen mit den globalen CO2-Emissionen, würden sie mit Händen und Füßen für die nukleare Entwicklung kämpfen (sie hassen es oft (Greenpeace verkündet stolz, dass sie es seit 1971 bekämpfen)), und Sie würden mit Händen und Füßen dafür kämpfen, dass Erdgas Kohle in jedem Winkel der Welt ersetzt (und das wäre eine logische Integration der Nutzung des bestehenden Erdgassystems als Wechsel zu Wasserstoff, auf die die Welt zu rennen scheint).

Allein diese beiden Entwicklungen – unglaublich beängstigend, aber einfacher als der Traum von erneuerbaren Energien/Batterien – würden sie hinsichtlich der Emissionen dorthin bringen, wo sie hinwollen. Aber Klimaaktivisten tun beides nicht, weshalb ich null Zeit für die „Klima“-Debatte habe, wie sie derzeit in den Medien strukturiert und geführt wird.

Der „Westen“ – Nordamerika und Westeuropa haben etwa 800 Millionen Einwohner. BRICS hat über 3 Milliarden, Tendenz steigend, da neue Nationen den Beitritt anstreben. Sie sind hungrig. Sie wollen Treibstoff. Es ist ihnen egal, ob es sich um Diesel oder Kohle oder Wind oder Sonne oder Dung handelt. Sie wollen Dünger.

„Wir“ wollen, dass sich die Welt anpasst, so wie sie es immer getan hat (ich würde meinen niedrigsten Dollar darauf verwetten, dass irgendwann der eine oder andere britische Monarch in einem verschrumpelten und verschimmelten Salon in einem Anfall von Fröhlichkeit nach dem Abendessen ein Hemd trug, auf dem stand: „ Mein königliches Kriegsschiff ging nach Papua-Neuguinea und alles, was es mir brachte, war dieses T-Shirt“).

„Wir“ wenden sich sogar gegeneinander, was unvermeidlich ist, wenn absurder Humor die Politik regiert (der australische Aktivist bemerkte ein ähnliches kannibalistisches Verhalten, wenn Aktivisten angesichts fehlender Ergebnisse frustriert werden), wie, wieder einmal, Trudeau/Deutschland/LNG/Wasserstoff .

Wer bei klarem Verstand könnte solch eine Farce miterleben – ein wirklich gedemütigter Wirtschaftsriese (Deutschland) kommt und bettelt um Treibstoff, den Kanada im Überfluss hat, und Kanada bietet stattdessen an, ihnen die größte Zuckerwattemaschine der Welt zu bauen. Aber was kann Deutschland zu einem so knalligen Pullover-Geschenk sagen? Sie sind genauso verantwortlich wie jeder andere, möglicherweise mehr als jeder andere, dafür, der Welt Vorträge darüber zu halten, wie man einen schnellen Übergang zu grüner Energie bewerkstelligt. Deutschland dominiert die EU, also hat die EU mitgemacht. Die EU dominiert die westlichen Social-Engineering-Denkfabriken, also machten sie mit. Kanada folgte diesem Beispiel, weil Brüssel geistig näher an Ottawa liegt als Swift Current. 29dk2902lhttps://boereport.com/29dk2902l.html

Bedenken Sie Folgendes: Eine Umfrage unter 1.100 deutschen Unternehmen ergab, dass 10 Prozent erwägen, energieintensive Unternehmen aufzugeben, und Deutschland sich immer noch weigert, seine verbleibenden drei Kernkraftwerke offen zu halten (es könnte schlimmer sein, denke ich – in Großbritannien 60 Prozent der Briten Fabriken drohen wegen unverschämter und zumindest teilweise selbst verschuldeter Strompreise unterzugehen).

Alle diese westlichen Institutionen haben die Energiezügel an sich gerissen, die Anbieter von über 80 Prozent der Weltenergie in den Keller geworfen und die Tür mit Vorhängeschlössern verschlossen. Die Ankündigung von Trudeau zu grünem Wasserstoff, eine so große internationale energiepolitische Erklärung, wie es sie noch nie gegeben hat, wurde weit entfernt von Kanadas Energiezentrum abgehalten und umfasste niemanden aus dem Energiesektor, der derzeit die Last schultert.

Sie wurden nicht nur nicht eingeladen, sondern Trudeau gab sich alle Mühe, eine absurde Aussage über das Fehlen eines wirtschaftlichen Arguments für LNG zu machen, die einem Schauspiellehrer ähnelte, der auf der Detroit Auto Show auf die Bühne ging und dem Publikum sagte, es solle loswerden all ihrer Schraubenschlüssel, weil er glaubte, sie würden nicht mehr gebraucht.

Die Welt marschiert hier im Westen gewissermaßen an uns vorbei. Die Angst vor Brennstoff- und Nahrungsmangel wird den Menschen das antun. Wir haben hier in Nordamerika das Glück, über reichhaltige Ressourcen zu verfügen, und wir sollten diese Dankbarkeit festhalten. Es ist vielleicht nicht immer so.

Jüngste Studien zeigen, dass einige Leute dieses Buch noch nicht gekauft haben. Das könnte viel Chaos erklären. Holen Sie sich „The End of Fossil Fuel Insanity“ bei Amazon.ca, Indigo.ca oder Amazon.com. Es ist nicht zu spät. Danke für die Unterstützung.

Lesen Sie hier weitere aufschlussreiche Analysen von Terry Etam oder senden Sie hier eine E-Mail an Terry.

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Categories
Health

LA well being officers are investigating the dying of an individual who had monkeypox

LA health officials are investigating the death of a person who had monkeypox

A health care worker administers a dose of the JYNNEOS monkeypox vaccine at a pop-up vaccination clinic in Los Angeles, California, on August 9, 2022.

Patrick T Fallon | AFP | Getty Images

Los Angeles health officials are investigating the death of a person who had monkeypox.

dr Rita Singhal, Los Angeles County director of disease control, said it was not clear what role monkeypox may have played in the person’s death. Officials have no further details at this time, Singhal said.

“This is one of two deaths in the United States currently being investigated to determine if monkeypox was a contributory cause of death,” Singhal told reporters during a Thursday news conference.

Texas health officials last month reported the death of an adult in the Houston area who was diagnosed with monkeypox. According to health officials, the person had a severely compromised immune system.

Monkeypox is rarely fatal, but people with weak immune systems are at higher risk of serious illness. The virus causes a painful rash that resembles blisters or pimples.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found in a report released Thursday that 38% of the 2,000 patients diagnosed with monkeypox between May and July were HIV positive. According to the study, people with monkeypox and HIV were hospitalized more often than people without HIV.

CNBC Health & Science

Read CNBC’s latest global health coverage:

The US is trying to contain the world’s largest monkeypox outbreak, with more than 21,000 cases in all 50 states, Washington DC and Puerto Rico, according to the CDC.

Nine deaths from monkeypox have been confirmed worldwide since the outbreak began, according to CDC data. Deaths have occurred in Belgium, Brazil, Cuba, Central African Republic, Ecuador, Ghana, India, Nigeria and Spain.

More than 56,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported in 96 countries since the outbreak began, according to CDC data.

Monkeypox is mainly spread during sex among gay and bisexual men, although anyone can get monkeypox through close contact with someone who is infected or through contaminated materials such as towels and bed sheets.

Federal health officials said this week the outbreak appears to be slowing as vaccines, tests and treatments have become more widely available. Demetre Daskalakis, deputy chief of the White House monkeypox response team, said it took 25 days for cases to double in August, compared with eight days in July.

The US has administered more than 460,000 doses of monkeypox vaccine to date. About 1.6 million gay and bisexual men who have HIV or are taking medication to reduce their risk of HIV infection are at highest risk from monkeypox, according to the CDC.

The monkeypox vaccine Jynneos is given in two doses 28 days apart. CDC officials say getting the second shot is crucial for people at risk. After the second dose, it takes two weeks for the immune system to reach its maximum response.

Categories
Sport

No, Texas shouldn’t be again (but), but it surely was no joke Saturday

No, Texas is not back (yet), but it was no joke Saturday

Texas is not back.

Not on Saturday, anyway. Not without its burgeoning star QB, Quinn Ewers. Not on Nick Saban’s watch.

But for 59 minutes against Alabama, Texas seemed astonishingly close to turning the page on a decade of heartbreak, embarrassment and jokes before falling to the Tide 20-19.

It was, it turns out, a fitting appetizer for a day of utter chaos — much of it delivered by the Sun Belt. Appalachian State stunned Texas A&M. Marshall toppled Notre Dame. Georgia Southern may have delivered the final dagger to Scott Frost at Nebraska. It was such an impressive performance by the Sun Belt that Kevin Warren has already expressed interest in adding six of its teams.

Then there was Kentucky, which ended the Anthony Richardson’s Heisman Trophy campaign before Florida even had a chance to print up a batch of promotional Jorts. Washington State went on the road and beat Wisconsin, and USC’s offense looked every bit as dangerous as the best of Lincoln Riley’s Oklahoma teams. It was a needed respite for the Pac-12.

And yet, despite all of it, perhaps nothing rattled the sport’s hierarchy more than the action in Austin.

For much of the 12 years since Texas last played Alabama — another game in which it lost its starting quarterback — the Longhorns have served as a national punchline, with “Texas is back!” the easiest joke in college football. (Though, credit to Texas for providing plenty of other material, from “OK, cool. Hook ’em” to multiple losses to Kansas to an attack monkey trained to steal Halloween candy. It has been a wild decade.) And yet, Texas was no joke Saturday. It was a worthy competitor for a team many expect to win the national title. It was a team that, with Ewers — or, perhaps, a properly called safety in the end zone in the third quarter — might’ve pulled the miracle.

play

0:33

Alabama escapes a safety after DeMarvion Overshown is penalized with a roughing the passer call on Bryce Young.

Instead, it was still a loss, the seventh in the past nine games for Texas. But the feeling in the aftermath isn’t the familiar aura of malaise. No, as the Gen Z kids would say, Saturday felt like a genuine vibe shift.

Texas might’ve won with Ewers, who left the game with a shoulder injury in the first half (or, perhaps, because he only had enough quarters to feed the meter through halftime).

Texas might’ve won if its kicker hadn’t flubbed a 20-yard field goal.

Texas might’ve won if it simply wasn’t Texas, wasn’t the team that had been on the wrong side of things for so long that the universe simply couldn’t allow such a massive upset to occur so early in the season.

Mostly though, Texas might’ve won if it had Bryce Young, who proved once again that he’s the best player in college football (and saved this weatherman a very embarrassing apology during Sunday’s weather report).

BREAKING: I know it’s early, but I’m expecting a flash flood warning to go into effect at 11 AM on Saturday in Austin.

A mix of longhorn sweat and tears will lead to rapidly rising water levels in DKR. Please plan accordingly! Turn Around, Don’t Play Bama #atxwx pic.twitter.com/NMR1d8zXKT

— Avery Tomasco (@averytomascowx) September 8, 2022

Young accounted for 68 yards on Alabama’s gotta-have-it 11-play touchdown drive with 8:29 to go, a merciless shredding of a Texas defense that had been dominant to that point. Then, after the Longhorns took a two-point lead with 1:29 play, Young delivered again, a Houdini-esque escape from a sack turning into a 20-yard gain that set up the game-winning field goal.

“When his best was needed,” Saban said after the game, “he was really good.”

Young has done this again and again in his brilliant career, saving Alabama against Florida and LSU and Auburn last year, and again Saturday, with one unflappable late drive after another. Much as we might want to turn our attention elsewhere, he is without question college football’s best player.

How good is Texas? Ewers was shredding Alabama’s secondary before suffering a shoulder injury in the first half, and Longhorns fans will spend the next few days — heck, maybe the next few years — wondering what might’ve been if the former five-star recruit had remained in the game. The Texas defense dominated at the line of scrimmage, inhaling Alabama blockers and tormenting Young throughout, while the DBs gave the Tide virtually nothing downfield.

How seriously should we consider Alabama’s struggles? Young remains a superstar, and Will Anderson Jr. delivered with a game-saving sack when it was needed the most. But a good chunk of the state of Texas already knew Bill O’Brien wasn’t exactly a hall-of-fame play caller. The Alabama receivers offered little help, and the O-line was hardly the brick wall we’d grown used to seeing from Saban’s teams over the years. Has Saban’s NIL money from all those Aflac commercials become a distraction to the team? (Note: How has this not been a message board topic yet?) It’s easy to shrug off an Alabama setback because previous prognoses of Saban’s demise have resulted in utter embarrassment for all the dime-store Miss Cleos who predicted it. And yet, we’ve seen this version of Alabama more in the past year — often against lesser teams — than we’ve seen throughout the bulk of Saban’s elite career.

Are we living in a computer simulation? The fact that a red-haired kicker named Bert Auburn nearly sealed a Texas win over the Tide would lead us to believe that, yes, we are. No way that happens unless we’re in the Matrix.

That’s actually fitting because, for much of the past 12 years, the only case to be made for Texas’ return to national prominence required a bit of theoretical physics and a healthy imagination. After Saturday, however, it’s not so outlandish.

No, Texas isn’t back, but even a win Saturday wouldn’t have proved the Longhorns had reached some long-anticipated mountaintop. The journey back is exactly that — a journey. And what Saturday was, in spite of the final score, was a necessary and emphatic step in the right direction.

Aggies fall off a cliff

Fifteen years ago, Appalachian State knocking off a traditional power was an earth-shattering moment.

Now? Maybe a mild surprise, with the Mountaineers delivering their latest stunner Saturday.

2 Related

Check back on App State’s recent history against the Power 5: Just a week ago, the Mountaineers traded body blows with North Carolina in a 63-61 loss. In 2021, only a late field goal saved Miami, which won 25-23. In 2019, App State won on the road at North Carolina and South Carolina. In 2018, App took Penn State to overtime. In 2017, it lost to Wake Forest by just one point. Add in another overtime loss to Tennessee in 2016, and App has been tied or ahead in the fourth quarter in eight of its past 10 against the Power 5.

On the other end of the Mountaineers’ 17-14 win Saturday was No. 6 Texas A&M, which was kind enough to upend its fans’ expectations in Week 2 rather than waiting until October to do it. The Aggies managed just 186 total yards and one offensive touchdown.

A&M paid App State $1.5 million to come to College Station. Add that to the $9 million Jimbo Fisher is being paid not to develop a quarterback, and that’s a lot of cash without much return on investment. Aggies boosters are going to have to think twice before ordering the 82-ounce ribeye at breakfast Sunday.

For years, Fisher was viewed as a quarterback whisperer, putting three straight into the first round of the NFL draft during his Florida State tenure. But since Jameis Winston left after the 2014 season, it’s been rough. No Fisher QB in that span has completed 60% of his passes and thrown more than 20 TDs in a season. For reference, 36 different QBs did that last season, including his current backup, Max Johnson, who transferred from LSU.

No luck for the Irish

After a loss to Ohio State in the opener, Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman insisted there was a silver lining: The Irish clearly had their QB in Tyler Buchner.

Buchner’s line in the 26-21 loss Saturday to Marshall: 21-of-38 for 221 yards and two picks, including one returned for a TD that all but sealed the Thundering Herd’s stunning upset late in the fourth quarter. The Irish are 0-2 to start a season for the first time since 2011.

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Marcus Freeman talks after Notre Dame falls to 0-2 to start the 2022 season.

It’s hard to blame Buchner alone though. Khalan Laborn, a Florida State transfer, ran for 163 yards for Marshall, the most the Irish have allowed to a back since 2016.

Or, perhaps it’s the AP voters’ fault for overrating Notre Dame (again). According to ESPN Stats & Information, the Irish are the first team to start 0-2 while being ranked in the AP top 10 for both games since the 1986 Ohio State Buckeyes.

Or, perhaps it’s Las Vegas’ fault. The Irish closed as a 20.5-point favorite, making this the third-largest upset of Notre Dame in the past 45 years — and the largest since the team fell to Air Force in 1996.

How is this Brian Kelly’s fault, though? We haven’t figured that out yet, but we’re sure he’s involved somehow.

Another agonizing loss for the Huskers

The Sun Belt delivered shocking wins over Texas A&M and Notre Dame on Saturday, and some might suggest there was also a third major upset. But those people have not seen Nebraska football under Scott Frost.

Yes, Georgia Southern was a 22.5-point underdog. And yes, the Eagles trailed by four with less than a minute to play.

But we know how this story ends. It’s ended the same way in 11 straight single-digit games for Nebraska. Scott Frost is Charlie Brown, and the universe is Lucy. He keeps trying to play football. Fate keeps pulling the ball away.

Georgia Southern engineered an 11-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to go up 45-42, and Nebraska missed a last-gasp, 52-yard field goal try.

The Cornhuskers are now 4-11 since the start of 2021. All 11 losses are by less than 10 points.

What did Frost do to deserve this? Yes, he walks under ladders constantly, which is odd since there are very few multi-story buildings in Nebraska. Sure, at a dusty crossroads outside Lincoln, he once made a deal with a mysterious stranger who promised to make him really good at checkers. And we admit, he does get a kick out of yelling “MacBeth!” during off-Broadway showings of the Shakespeare play (and, for some reason, the occasional showing of “Mama Mia.”)

But no. The reason Frost must suffer this fate is obvious. He claimed a national championship in 2017, and no one — we mean no one — screws with Nick Saban and gets away with it.

Just look what happened to Jimbo Fisher on Saturday.

Two-point conversions

Washington State at Wisconsin

Point 1: Saturday’s win marked the first by Washington State against a ranked, non-conference opponent on the road since beating Colorado — back when Colorado was in the Big 12 — in 2003. It’s also the first win over a ranked non-conference foe by any Pac-12 team since Oregon topped Ohio State in Week 2 last year. Overall in those situations, the Pac-12 is just 4-13 in the playoff era, including the Cougars’ win Saturday.

Point 2: Saturday was just the second time in Braelon Allen’s last 11 games he didn’t top 100 yards on the ground. He finished with 98.

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Washington State RB Nakia Watson catches the pass, spins off a tackle and gets to the end zone to give the Cougars a lead.

Tennessee at Pittsburgh

Point 1: Tennessee had 16 QB pressures, four sacks and nine tackles for loss. Pitt would’ve been better served putting up those spikes parking garages use to keep you from backing up rather than relying on its O-line to stop the Vols.

Point 2: Hendon Hooker’s last nine games — five of which came against ranked opponents — he’s completing 67% of his passes, averaging 9.4 yards-per-attempt, and has accounted for 26 touchdowns to just two interceptions.

Houston at Texas Tech

Point 1: Joey Maguire has the Red Raiders looking sharp through two weeks, and a date with NC State is on the horizon. As for offensive coordinator Zach Kittley, he seems to be fitting in fine. Texas Tech has scored 99 points so far this season. Last year at Western Kentucky, Kittley’s offense had just 94.

Point 2: So with Houston losing, who’s the favorite to become team outside the Power 5 with realistic playoff hopes? It’s a shame Appalachian State couldn’t close out North Carolina last week, as the Mountaineers would have an awfully compelling resume. Instead, it’s probably BYU.

Baylor at BYU

Point 1: Jaren Hall might be the most underappreciated QB in college football. Against Baylor’s barbaric defense, and without his top two receivers, Hall still delivered an electric performance, completing 23-of-39 for 269 yards, then rushing for 28 more — including some huge scrambles down the stretch — while also catching a TD pass. Over his past six games, Hall has accounted for nearly 2,000 yards of offense with 17 touchdowns and just three picks. Oh, and BYU is 6-0 in those games.

Point 2: Dave Aranda made the bold call at the end of spring to name Blake Shapen as his starting QB, supplanting last year’s starter Gerry Bohannon. Throughout most of Saturday’s game, however, Baylor showed minimal confidence in Shapen’s ability to deliver when it mattered. Despite averaging just 2.9 yards per carry, Baylor ran the ball 52 times. Add in 14 penalties — including two false starts in a goal-to-go situation in double OT, and it was a game Baylor is likely to be kicking itself over for a while.

One shining moment for UK

Two weeks into the season, Syracuse, Kansas, UCLA, North Carolina and Duke are all undefeated. Not bad for a bunch of basketball schools.

But don’t add Kentucky into that mix, despite John Calipari’s claims. Mark Stoops has clearly turned this into a football school.

The Wildcats’ defense dominated Florida on Saturday, turning a pick six into a 26-16 victory — No. 61 in Stoops career in Lexington, topping Paul “Bear” Bryant for the most victories in school history. The win also marked the first time Kentucky had beaten Florida in consecutive years since 1976-77.

How impressive is Stoops’ resume? The former Jimbo Fisher assistant actually has two more wins since 2017 (42) than his old boss (40).

Kentucky’s star running back Chris Rodriguez Jr. missed a second straight game, but it was no issue for the Wildcats, who simply added a few shots of Kavosiey Smoke, who racked up 80 yards on 14 carries to pace the offense.

So, when Kentucky’s team plane lands in Lexington, we’re hoping Calipari is there to carry Stoops’ luggage. That’s how it works at football schools.

Heisman Five

Anthony Richardson made his case for Heisman hype last week. Ah, the Heisman Five is a fickle list. Nevertheless, Richardson’s conference mates maintain the top two spots as we wrap Week 2.

1. Alabama Crimson Tide QB Bryce Young

As impressive as Young has been since taking over the Alabama offense last season, he hadn’t shown much of an interest in running the ball. But last week, he rushed for 100 against Utah State, and his 20-yard scramble Saturday was the key to setting up the game-winning field goal against Texas. Because if there’s one thing the SEC opponents needed was for Young to become more versatile.

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Bryce Young escapes the pressure to find Jahmyr Gibbs for the score to put Alabama ahead 17-16 vs. Texas.

2. Georgia Bulldogs QB Stetson Bennett

Bennett followed up his stellar opener against Oregon by scorching an FCS opponent, throwing for 300 yards and accounting for two touchdowns. Additionally, he learned this week he’s actually now third in line for the British throne. King Stetson IV has a nice ring to it.

3. Ohio State QB CJ Stroud

Stroud threw for 351 yards and tossed four TDs in a 45-12 win over Arkansas State on Saturday. It was such an impressive performance, Red Wolves coach Butch Jones awarded him an honorary “champion of life” trophy.

4. USC QB Caleb Williams

We’ll let this tweet speak for itself.

lol Caleb Williams has 142 yards and three touchdowns on … seven throws in the first quarter

— Paolo Uggetti (@PaoloUggetti) September 11, 2022

5. North Carolina QB Drake Maye

In three career starts, Maye has completed 74% of his throws for 930 yards with 11 TDs and just one pick, and he has UNC 3-0. More impressive, a bulk of those stats came against App State, which Texas A&M will be the first to tell you is no easy task.

Under-the-radar game of the day

How wild was the UTSA-Army game? It featured just three punts, nearly 1,000 yards, 18 third-down conversions and four game-tying touchdowns in regulation.

Oh, and Army threw for 300 yards in a game for the first time in 15 years.

The Black Knights led 28-14 after scoring early in the second half, but UTSA responded with three straight TD drives to take a 35-28 lead. Army responded with a game-tying TD with 1:03 to play, but UTSA wasn’t done. The Roadrunners marched 53 yards in nine plays to set up a game-winning 41-yard field goal try … and missed.

Instead, it was Frank Harris who delivered the final dagger in overtime, connecting with JT Clark for a touchdown and a 41-38 victory.

Harris threw for 359 yards in the game, which bested Army’s trio of passers, who collected 304 yards through the air. The last time Army hit that mark was Nov. 17, 2007 against Tulsa, when Carson Williams threw for 340 — on 38 passes.

Under-the-radar play of the day

Eastern Kentucky’s Jayden Higgins did his Stretch Armstrong impression, reaching to haul in the one-handed grab in the second quarter against Bowling Green.

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Jayden Higgins’ terrific one-handed catch cuts into the Falcons’ lead.

Of course, Higgins wasn’t the last highlight from this game. His catch made the score 10-7 Bowling Green, but EKU would eventually charge back to take a 31-17 lead midway through the third quarter. Not to be outdone, the Falcons scored the next three touchdowns to take a 38-31 lead before Higgins hauled in a 3-yard TD pass as time expired to send the game to overtime.

And then the real fireworks began.

The two teams traded scores through seven overtimes before EKU emerged with a 59-57 win.

The most college football thing to happen Saturday

Across the country, fans were left without access to digital tickets Saturday afternoon, including the good folks at Iowa.

Imagine their terror worrying how many punts they’d miss before the system was up and running again. We feel for them.

Thankfully, the issue was resolved by mid-afternoon. Iowa’s offensive woes, however, keep returning an “Error 404: Page not found.”

After escaping South Dakota State with a 7-3 win (a field goal and two safeties accounting for all of Iowa’s points) in Week 1, Iowa lost the CyHawk trophy to Iowa State on Saturday 10-7.

According to Elias, this marks the first time an FBS or Division I-A team both scored 10 points or less and allowed 10 or less in each of its first two games since 1979.

It’s fair to wonder how long Kirk Ferentz can allow his son to call plays when, two games into the season, Iowa has 14 points scored and 16 punts kicked.

Break up the Blue Devils

Is it too soon to start talking about Mike Elko as a coach of the year candidate?

After winning just five games in the previous two seasons combined, Elko has Duke at 2-0 after knocking off Northwestern 31-23. Jordan Waters scored twice on the ground and Duke recovered a fumble in the end zone with just seconds left on the clock to secure the win.

Yes we are all aware of the Cameron Crazies & their support for @DukeMBB but get ready in football for the WADE WACKOS cheering on @DukeFOOTBALL Last week routed Temple 30-0 & today on the road beat @NUFBFamily 31-23 ! Remember the name MIKE ELKO @CoachMikeElko

— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) September 10, 2022

A look ahead at the Blue Devils’ schedule — FCS North Carolina A&T, Kansas, Virginia and Georgia Tech await next — and there’s a real chance the ACC’s worst team will go bowling in Elko’s first year at the helm.

Or, perhaps, it’s a bit of Duke’s patented early-season success.

Since 2017, the Blue Devils are 7-1 in Power 5 nonconference games in August and September — the most such wins by any Power 5 team. Their lone loss came to Alabama in 2019. Five of those wins came as an underdog.

After the season’s opening month, however, things haven’t gone quite as well. Duke is just 8-28 vs. Power 5 teams in October, November and December in that stretch.

Big bets and bad beats

Betting Alabama to cover the first-half spread had been one of the safest wagers in the sport. Since 2020, Saban’s team is 21-7 against the spread in the first half of games (and 11-4 ATS overall in nonconference play).

Not surprisingly, the bettors at Caesars Sportsbook backed the Tide heavily. The line opened with Alabama as an 11.5-point favorite, but that number climbed all the way to 14 as 95% of tickets backing the Tide.

Instead, the Tide went to halftime tied with Texas at 10 — a reminder that even Bryce Young can’t outrun Vegas.

Northwestern was headed to a potential score-tying TD — and a cover for bettors who took the over of 57 — as Evan Hull rumbled toward the end zone with just seconds left on the clock. But Hull fumbled at the 1, and Duke recovered in the end zone to secure the 31-23 win — and the under, in painful fashion.

The Sun Belt spent Saturday making magic. First, it was Marshall (+950) knocking off No. 8 Notre Dame. Then it was Appalachian State (+750) toppling No. 6 Texas A&M. So, how much would a $100 parlay on those two teams have paid out? That’d be a cool $8,300. Never doubt the Fun Belt.

According to ESPN’s David Purdum, a Caesars bettor in New Jersey cashed in on an even more unlikely parlay — winning all three legs of an in-game wager on Marshall (+1050), Washington State (+650) and App State (+700). His $50 wager returned $34,450.

Saturday marked the 110th consecutive time Kansas was an underdog in a Big 12 game, a streak dating back to 2009 — three years before West Virginia joined the league. But there’s progress in shifting public opinion. Saturday’s 14-point spread was actually the lowest for Kansas in a conference game since 2009, too. And what happened? The Jayhawks won outright, knocking off West Virginia 55-42 in overtime. (Yes, you read that right. Kansas added a pick six in OT to become the rare two-score victors outside of regulation.) Kansas has now covered four straight as a Big 12 underdog, including two outright wins — Saturday and last season against Texas. (Sorry, Texas. We didn’t need to pour salt on your wounds but it’s just so funny.) They’re the first team to win by 13 in OT since Central Michigan defeated Eastern Michigan 36-23 in 1998.

The Sun Belt spent Saturday making magic. First, it was Marshall (+950) knocking off No. 8 Notre Dame. Then it was Appalachian State (+750) toppling No. 6 Texas A&M. Then it was Georgia Southern (+1,250) toppling Nebraska. Add in Washington State (+650) upsetting Wisconsin, and it marked the first time since the FBS/FCS split in 1978 that four teams favored by 17.5 points or more all lost.

According to ESPN’s David Purdum, a bettor in New Jersey cashed in on three of them in a live bet, hitting Marshall, App State and Washington State — turning a $50 wager into a $34,450 payout.

If you’d bet all four at kickoff, a $100 wager would’ve won you $850,400.

That’d go a long way toward Scott Frost’s buyout.

Categories
Technology

Berlin is main Germany’s dream of car-reduced public transport

Berlin is leading Germany's dream of car-reduced public transport

The end of summer also heralded the end of Germany €9 public transport ticket – a tenth of the usual price. Unsurprisingly, it was popular with commuters, leaving people wondering what was coming next.

This week, the Berlin Senate announced its intention to secure funds for reduced BVG tickets.

According to Mayor Franziska Giffeya monthly ticket price of €29 for zones AC was agreed, with further discussions for the outer regions and the rest of Germany.

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But how did a €9 ticket impact the environment and lead to fewer car journeys?

Did the €9 ticket get people out of their cars?

9 euros train per monthA Berlin train. Image credit:Ansgar Scheffold

Yes and no. According to VDVaround 52 million tickets were sold nationwide in the three months. Another ten million annual subscribers automatically received discounted tickets.

A full one in five buyers had never used public transport.

However, as I had previously suspected, the main beneficiaries of the program were city dwellers with regular access to public transport. The research found that ticket purchases were twice as common in urban areas.

Around 10% of the users of the 9-euro ticket left their car at least once in favor of the bus or train. Excuse me if I find this a little overwhelming.

The research found that new ticket buyers save 15 kilometers per week on their car journey, while existing drivers save 8 km.

Quiet, research by the RWI-Leibniz Institute for Economic Research in Essen also showed that the car journeys of buyers of 9-euro tickets increased by an average of 18 kilometers per week in June compared to April – possibly as a result of the better summer weather.

So it’s an improvement, but I’d be more interested in seeing the numbers at other times of the year when people are vacationing less and bad weather makes waiting for public transport less appealing.

What was the environmental impact of the €9 ticket?

The average saving in greenhouse gases (CO2 equivalents) is around 600,000 tons of CO2 per month: around 1.8 million tons of CO2 in the campaign period. This matches with over 387,845 petrol-powered passenger vehicles drove a year.

An analysis by the traffic data company Tomtom for the German Press Agency shows that 23 of 26 German cities were affected a reduction in traffic congestionone of the main causes of air pollution during rush hour – up to 14% in cities like Hamburg and Wiesbaden.

Additional social benefits

The €9 ticket increased regional and weekend travel, particularly for people who typically cannot afford long-distance travel.

Also, one of the ticket’s biggest wins was a significant reduction in fare evasion, a problem that has plagued the city for decades. In 2008, Udo Plessow, Head of the Berlin-Ploetzensee Prison, said The place that:

At least 155 of our 480 inmates have been jailed for fare evasion in lieu of payment… Actually, we have more than that, but if the men are also convicted of another crime, they won’t be specifically registered for fare evasion.

That number only increased. According to the Senate Department of Justice, in 2018 around 330 people were imprisoned every year for non-payment of fines for fare evasion. Imprisonment for failure to pay a transportation fine is inherently problematic.

The activists are committed to free and inexpensive transport

Ticket sale 9€ ticketThe Complexity of a Ticket Machine (artist unknown)

Like all cities, Berlin has its share of fare dodgers. His reasons vary from intentional to accidental. We’re talking about a confusing transport system with a plethora of tickets making it easy for tourists to make mistakes and consequently face fines.

The German capital also has a long history of resistance when it comes to paying for public transport. An example is a campaign where people with annual tickets (which can bring someone with them for free after 8pm and on weekends) wear a pass that invites people without a ticket to stand with them when ticket inspectors board a train.

A fund for fare dodgers?

9-euro traffic summer Berlin

The day after the €9 ticket expired, a campaign for cheap transport surfaced in Germany. Called 9 euros fund, it invites people to pay a monthly fee of €9 into a common pot. Any fines will then be paid by the collective.

It is not the first initiative of this kind; similar schemes existed in France and Belgium in the late 1990s.

But the idea is dangerous. First of all, if the fund doesn’t get big enough to cover fines, you’re not entitled. In addition, violence by ticket inspectors is not uncommon at ticket inspection in Berlin, with BPoC and Asians being over-represented. Worse, a criminal record for fare evasion can serve as a black mark on applications for permanent German or European citizenship.

Will public transport of the future be free?

There are over 100 public transport schemes worldwide. These range from temporary when pollution or smog is high to free buses in Kansas and an entirely free bus in Luxembourg.

Ultimately, I’m not convinced that Germany will ever fully adopt one free public transport – the operating costs are way too high And that’s before we get into the costs of improving public transport.

It’s much more likely that we’ll see a carrot-and-stick ideology where owning a car becomes less desirable, let alone driving and parking, which inevitably makes public transport more attractive – alongside the possibilities of micro-mobility.

Categories
Entertainment

Social Media Reacts To 1 Yr Anniversary Of Chloe Bailey’s Debut Solo Single ‘Have Mercy’

Social Media Reacts To 1 Year Anniversary Of Chloe Bailey's Debut Solo Single 'Have Mercy'

Lawd, have mercy! Fans on social media consider September 10th a new holiday. A year ago today, Chloe Bailey shook the internet when she released her long-awaited solo single, Have Mercy.

As a result of internet hype, the song debuted at number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 13 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The video was released on YouTube the same day and received 4.7 million views in the first 24 hours. A year later, the video has 78 million views.

One year ago today @ChloeBailey released her debut solo single “Have Mercy”👑pic.twitter.com/OwigGaHUhN

— k̸𝖆𝖆𝖆𝖆𝖓𝖆𝖓𝖆✨ (@juskristinaa) September 10, 2022

If Chloe doesn’t bring anything on Have Mercy Day, I’ll be asoooooo mad as Remix @ChloeBailey

— 𝐾.𝐆𝐢𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢✵ (@UNGODLYKANDY) September 10, 2022

But let’s rewind…

The TikTok is heard all over the world

On July 1, 2021, Chloe Bailey dropped a TikTok on her birthday that sent the internet into an uproar. It was a snippet of the song “Have Mercy” with the caption that read: “This is 23… HAVE MERCY COMING SOON 🍑🙌🏽” This is her most watched TikTok currently at 20.8 million.

Fans took their excitement to Twitter while awaiting and anticipating the new single’s release date.

@ChloeBailey Drop “Have Mercy” before I throw chicken nuggets at you?!??! 👀🙄

I’m just playing… I love you… But leave it anyway. 👀

— Shannon T. © (@_TheeShannonT) September 1, 2021

Halle shows her sister some love

One thing about Chloe and Halle is that they will ride and support each other just like sisters!

check out the video for #havemercy !!!! pic.twitter.com/zuZFFDkZKr

— Halle (@HalleBailey) September 10, 2021

The ‘Have Mercy’ performances were ATE every time

Chloe took the stage at the MTV Video Music Awards to perform her new single just two days after it was released. She went on to perform the song on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in October and at the American Music Awards in November.

Although the single didn’t receive any awards, “Have Mercy” was nominated for Outstanding Music Video/Visual Album and Outstanding Soul/R&B Song at the 2022 NAACP Image Awards. As well as Video of the Year at the 2022 BET Awards and Best R&B Song at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards.

And in case you were thinking… It’s not done yet

Since the release of “Have Mercy”, Chlöe has brought us countless bops like “Treat Me” and “Surprise”. Fans are practically begging for an album after Chloe takes to IG with 4 different singles for listeners to make their choice.

Finally, despite some negative comments she receives, Chloe continues to rise above the hate and sheds a light on the pressure that social media is putting on her generation. In an interview on Hot 97, she tells social media

“influences us as a generation because we’re constantly comparing the best version of someone else online to the worst version of ourselves,” she continues alone at the end of the day”

What a year it has been for Chloe! #TeaMates, are you all here for this new holiday?

Categories
Science

DART sees the asteroid Didymos for the primary time. In two weeks it’s going to crash into the moon

DART sees the asteroid Didymos for the first time. In two weeks it will crash into the moon

NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission is on course to rendezvous with the double asteroid Didymos. Upon arrival on September 26, DART will collide with Dimorphos — the 160-meter (525-foot) moon orbiting the main body — to evaluate kinetic impact engineering for the first time. This proposed method of planetary defense consists of having a spacecraft collide with an asteroid to change its orbit and prevent it from colliding with Earth. In July, DART captured its first image of the binary asteroid, which NASA released earlier this week!

Captured on July 27, the image shows Didymos as a distant point of light against background stars in space. The image is a composite of 243 images taken by the Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Optical (Draco) when the spacecraft was approximately 32 million km (20 million miles) from the asteroid. At this distance, the navigation camera team was unsure if DRACO would be able to resolve the asteroid system. Fortunately, the DRACO team improved the resolution of the combined image that pinpointed Didymos’ location.

Artist’s rendering of the DART mission approaching the binary asteroid Didymos and its moon Dimorphos. Photo credit: NASA

This image effectively demonstrates DRACO’s capabilities and its ability to image distant objects, which is essential for the planned rendezvous with the binary asteroid. Elena Adams, DART mission systems engineer at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL), stated in a recent NASA press release:

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“This first set of images will be used as a test to prove our imaging techniques. The quality of the image is similar to what we could get from ground-based telescopes, but it’s important to show that DRACO is working properly and can see its target in order to make any necessary adjustments before we start using the images to view the spacecraft to guide the asteroid there autonomously.”

This imaging campaign also tested DRACO’s ability to steer the spacecraft toward Didymos and Dimorphos. So far, the mission team has relied on navigation simulations based on images taken by the spacecraft’s other instruments. But with the asteroid system now in view, DART must rely on DRACO’s ability to see and process images of the binary asteroid. This will be especially important in the final hours before DART hits Dimorphos.

“When we see the DRACO images of Didymos for the first time, we can iron out the best settings for DRACO and tweak the software,” said Julie Bellerose, the DART navigation director at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). “In September we will refine what DART is targeting by getting a more accurate fix on the location of Didymos.”

Artist’s impression of NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft speeding towards the smaller of the two bodies in the Didymos asteroid system. Photo credit: NASA/JHUAPL

For the next three weeks, the DART team will conduct observations with DRACO every five hours to perform corrective maneuvers. These will reduce the margin of error for the spacecraft’s final impact trajectory towards Dimorphos. The final maneuver will take place on September 25, approximately 24 hours before impact, when the navigation team will know Dimorphos’ position to within 2 km (1.24 mi). From this point on, DART must rely on its autonomous system to pilot itself and collide with Dimorphos.

The European Space Agency (ESA) is planning a follow-up mission, the Hera spacecraft, to be launched in September 2024. At the rendezvous with the binary asteroid system in December 2026, the probe will study the consequences of the impact test by measuring Dimorphos’ orbit for discernible changes. This will verify that the kinetic impact method can deflect asteroids and is an effective means of protecting Earth from potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs).

Further reading: NASA

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New York declares a polio emergency to extend immunization charges

New York declares a polio emergency to increase immunization rates

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday declared a state of emergency for polio in a bid to boost immunization rates in the state amid more evidence the virus is spreading in communities.

The poliovirus has now been detected in sewage samples from four counties in the New York metropolitan area, as well as in the city itself. The counties are Rockland, Orange, Sullivan and the newest Nassau.

According to state health officials, the samples tested positive for the poliovirus, which can cause paralysis in humans. Unvaccinated individuals who live, work, go to school or attend school in Orange, Rockland, Nassau, New York City and Sullivan are at the highest risk for paralysis, officials said.

New York began sanitation monitoring after an unvaccinated adult contracted polio and became paralyzed in Rockland County in July, the first known infection in the United States in nearly a decade.

The emergency declaration will expand the network of vaccine administrators to include pharmacists, midwives and emergency responders to increase vaccination coverage in areas where it has slipped.

New York Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett called on unvaccinated people to get vaccinated immediately. Individuals and families who are unsure of their immunization status should contact a health care provider, clinic, or the county health department to make sure they are up to date on their immunizations.

“With polio, we just can’t play the dice,” Bassett said. “I urge New Yorkers not to take any chances at all. The polio vaccine is safe and effective – it protects almost all people from the disease who get the recommended doses.”

Polio vaccination coverage is appallingly low in some New York boroughs. The vaccination rate is 60% in Rockland, 58% in Orange, 62% in Sullivan and 79% in Nassau, according to the Health Department. The national average for polio vaccination is about 79%.

According to the health department, the aim of the vaccination campaign is to significantly increase the vaccination coverage nationwide to over 90%.

Some New Yorkers should be cheered up

Some New Yorkers who have completed their vaccination series should receive a single lifetime booster shot, health officials said. These people include people who may have been in contact with a person who is infected or suspected to be infected with poliovirus, or members of the infected person’s household.

Health care workers should also get a booster shot if they work in areas where poliovirus has been detected and they may be handling samples or treating patients who may have polio. People who may be exposed to sewage as a result of their jobs should also consider a booster, health officials said.

All children should receive four doses of the polio vaccine. The first dose is given between 6 weeks and 2 months of age, the second dose at 4 months of age, the third at 6 to 18 months of age and the fourth dose at 4 to 6 years of age.

Adults who have only received one or two doses should receive the remaining one or two. Health officials said it didn’t matter how long it had been since the first doses.

How the polio virus spreads

Polio spreads between people when the virus enters the mouth, typically through hands contaminated with an infected person’s stool. The virus often spreads unnoticed, as 70% of those infected show no symptoms. About 25% of those infected develop mild flu-like symptoms.

One in 100 infected people develops a serious illness such as permanent paralysis. Polio is fatal in 2% to 10% of people with paralysis because the muscles used to breathe are immobilized.

The chain of transmission that brought polio to New York is believed to have originated from someone overseas who received the oral polio vaccine. The oral vaccine uses a weakened form of the virus that still replicates. In rare cases, the virus used in the vaccine can mutate, become virulent and spread to others.

The US stopped using the oral vaccine more than two decades ago. It now uses a vaccine that’s given as a shot, which inactivates the virus, meaning it doesn’t replicate and mutate. Although this vaccine is very effective at preventing disease, it does not block transmission of the virus.

The oral polio vaccine can block the transmission of the naturally occurring poliovirus, but carries the risk that the strain used in the vaccine will mutate and become virulent, leading to the spread of the so-called vaccine-derived poliovirus.