Highways are not great for the planet. Their smooth, wide, inviting lanes have helped make transportation the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the US, responsible for 29 percent of the total. With prodding from the Biden administration, major US automakers have pledged that 40 percent of their sales will be powered by plugs,… Continue reading The US Is Gently Discouraging States From Building New Highways
Author: Wired Magazine
Antibiotic Use in US Farm Animals Was Falling. Now It’s Not
That was thought to be the best the US could do, especially with the pro-business Trump administration about to take over. But researchers knew in advance that a growth promoter ban would be inadequate. They already had an example of why it wouldn’t work: A few years earlier, the government of the Netherlands had noticed… Continue reading Antibiotic Use in US Farm Animals Was Falling. Now It’s Not
The Log4J Vulnerability Will Haunt the Internet for Years
A vulnerability in the open source Apache logging library Log4j sent system administrators and security professionals scrambling over the weekend. Known as Log4Shell, the flaw is exposing some of the world’s most popular applications and services to attack, and the outlook hasn’t improved since the vulnerability came to light on Thursday. If anything, it’s now… Continue reading The Log4J Vulnerability Will Haunt the Internet for Years
Apple Backs Down on Its Controversial Photo-Scanning Plans
In August, Apple detailed several new features intended to stop the dissemination of child sexual abuse materials. The backlash from cryptographers to privacy advocates to Edward Snowden himself was near-instantaneous, largely tied to Apple’s decision not only to scan iCloud photos for CSAM, but to also check for matches on your iPhone or iPad. After… Continue reading Apple Backs Down on Its Controversial Photo-Scanning Plans
Second Time’s the Charm: NASA Perseverance Drills a Mars Rock
As the Perseverance rover drilled into a rock on Wednesday to collect a sample from Jezero Crater on Mars, Justin Simon, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, felt both nervous and excited. He has the honor of serving as the “sample shepherd,” leading the effort from millions of miles away, but… Continue reading Second Time’s the Charm: NASA Perseverance Drills a Mars Rock
New Orleans Was Already a ‘Heat Island.’ Then Ida Cut Power
On Sunday, Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana, tying with 2020’s Hurricane Laura as the strongest storm ever to hit the state. Winds topping 150 mph tore apart the electrical infrastructure, leaving a million people without power. All eight transmission lines into New Orleans were severed. Now temperatures are in the 90s, and brutal humidity—it’s… Continue reading New Orleans Was Already a ‘Heat Island.’ Then Ida Cut Power
We’re Giving Away One of Our Favorite TVs
We’ve been huge fans of the TCL 6-Series TV line for a few years. They’re packed with features and are relatively affordable, and the built-in Roku interface is one of the easiest to use. We like it so much that we’ve spent a couple of months trying to get one to give away to a… Continue reading We’re Giving Away One of Our Favorite TVs
What It’ll Take to Get Power Back in New Orleans After Ida
Two days after Hurricane Ida tore through, New Orleans and its surrounding area remain almost totally without power. Levees, floodwalls, floodgates, pumps, and other protections prevented massive flooding, but Ida knocked out all eight transmission lines into the city, plunging it and nearby parishes into darkness. Getting the lights back on will be an arduous… Continue reading What It’ll Take to Get Power Back in New Orleans After Ida
Nothing Can Eat Australia’s Cane Toads—So They Eat Each Other
The cane toad may be the poster animal for invasive species. Native to South America, it has been introduced to many other ecosystems in the hope it would chow down on agricultural pests. Instead, the toad has become a pest itself, most notably in Australia. Free from the predators and parasites in its native range,… Continue reading Nothing Can Eat Australia’s Cane Toads—So They Eat Each Other
California Man Stole 620,000 iCloud Photos in Search of Nudes
There’s a lot to worry about in the world today, so apologies in advance for this additional level of existential stress: New research indicates that in the event of a solar superstorm—the kind that hit in 1859—the internet could go down entirely, and take even longer than the power grid to restore. The risk lies… Continue reading California Man Stole 620,000 iCloud Photos in Search of Nudes