Today: October 12, 2024
Today: October 12, 2024

Latest From The Los Angeles Post

Science

Kenya's leader says climate change is eating away Africa's GDP, calls for talks on global carbon tax

Climate change is “relentlessly eating away” at Africa’s economic progress and it’s time to have a global conversation about a carbon tax, Kenya’s president declared Tuesday as the first Africa Climate Summit began. “Those who produce the garbage refuse to pay their bills,” President William Ruto said. The African continent of more than 1.3 billion people is losing 5% to 15% of its GDP growth every year to the widespread impacts of climate change, according to Ruto. It’s a source of deep frustration in the region that contributes by far the least to the global problem.

Kenya's leader says climate change is eating away Africa's GDP, calls for talks on global carbon tax
Science

Farms with natural landscape features provide sanctuary for some Costa Rica rainforest birds

Small farms with natural landscape features such as shade trees, hedgerows and tracts of intact forest provide a refuge for some tropical bird populations, according to an 18-year study in Costa Rica. For almost two decades, ornithologist James Zook has been collecting detailed records on nearly 430 tropical bird species found on small farms, plantations and undisturbed forests in the country. While birds thrive the most in undisturbed rainforests, Zook said some species usually found in forests can establish populations in “diversified farms” that partially mimic a natural forest environment. “How you farm matters,” said Nicholas Hendershot, a Stanford University

Farms with natural landscape features provide sanctuary for some Costa Rica rainforest birds
Science

Four astronauts return to Earth in SpaceX capsule to wrap up six-month station mission

Four astronauts returned to Earth early Monday after a six-month stay at the International Space Station. Their SpaceX capsule parachuted into the Atlantic off the Florida coast. Returning were NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Warren “Woody” Hoburg, Russia’s Andrei Fedyaev and the United Arab Emirates’ Sultan al-Neyadi, the first person from the Arab world to spend an extended time in orbit. Before departing the space station, they said they were craving hot showers, steaming cups of coffee and the ocean air since arriving in March. Their homecoming was delayed a day because of poor weather

Four astronauts return to Earth in SpaceX capsule to wrap up six-month station mission
Science

As G20 leaders prepare to meet in recently flooded New Delhi, climate policy issues are unresolved

Rekha Devi, a 30-year-old farm worker, is dreading the moment when her family will be ordered to leave their makeshift tent atop a half-built overpass and return to the Yamuna River floodplains below, where their hut and small field of vegetables is still under water from July’s devastating rains. Devi, her husband and their six children fled as the record monsoon rains triggered flooding that killed more than 100 people in northern India, displaced thousands and inundated large parts of the capital, New Delhi. The waters took her husband’s work tools, the children’s school uniforms and

As G20 leaders prepare to meet in recently flooded New Delhi, climate policy issues are unresolved
Science

India's moon rover completes its walk, scientists analyzing data looking for signs of frozen water.

India’s moon rover has completed its walk on the lunar surface and been put into sleep mode less than two weeks its historic landing near the lunar south pole, India’s space mission said. “The rover completes its assignments. It is now safely parked and set into sleep mode,’’ with daylight on that part of the moon coming to an end, the Indian Space Research Organization said in a statement late Saturday. The rover’s payloads are turned off and the data it collected has been transmitted to the Earth via the lander, the statement said. The Chandrayaan-3

India's moon rover completes its walk, scientists analyzing data looking for signs of frozen water.
Science

India launches spacecraft to study the sun after successful landing near the moon's south pole

India launched its first space mission to study the sun on Saturday, less than two weeks after a successful uncrewed landing near the south polar region of the moon. The Aditya-L1 spacecraft took off on board a satellite launch vehicle from the Sriharikota space center in southern India on a quest to study the sun from a point about 1.5 million kilometers (930,000 miles) from earth. The spacecraft is equipped with seven payloads to study the sun’s corona, chromosphere, photosphere and solar wind, the Indian Space Research Organization said. India became the first country to land

India launches spacecraft to study the sun after successful landing near the moon's south pole
Science

Court revives doctors' lawsuit saying FDA overstepped its authority with anti-ivermectin campaign

A federal appeals court Friday revived a lawsuit by three doctors who say the Food and Drug Administration overstepped its authority in a campaign against treating COVID-19 with the anti-parasite drug ivermectin. Ivermectin is commonly used to treat parasites in livestock. It can also be prescribed for humans and it has been championed by some conservatives as a treatment for COVID-19. The FDA has not approved ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment because studies have not proven it is effective. The agency did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Friday’s ruling from a panel of three

Court revives doctors' lawsuit saying FDA overstepped its authority with anti-ivermectin campaign
Science

NASA spacecraft around moon spots likely crash site of Russia's lost lunar lander

A NASA spacecraft around the moon has found the likely crash site of Russia’s lost lunar lander. The Luna 25 lander slammed into the moon last month, a harsh end to Russia’s first moon mission in almost half a century. Based on observations by its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, NASA said Thursday that it appears the impact created a crater 33 feet (10 meters) across. This fresh crater is about 250 miles (400 kilometers) short of the spacecraft’s intended landing site at the lunar south pole, and farther north. NASA’s spacecraft found no evidence of a

NASA spacecraft around moon spots likely crash site of Russia's lost lunar lander
Science

In Mississippi, a tiny fish is reintroduced to the river where it disappeared 50 years ago

A species of tiny fish that once flourished in a river running hundreds of miles from central Mississippi into southeastern Louisiana is being reintroduced to the Pearl River after disappearing 50 years ago. Wildlife experts say a number of factors likely contributed to the disappearance of the pearl darter from the Pearl River system, including oil and gas development, agricultural runoff, urban pollution, and dam construction. All are deemed detrimental to the pearl darter’s habitat and survival. And even though pollution and other threats to habitat remain today within the Pearl River, more than 400 miles

In Mississippi, a tiny fish is reintroduced to the river where it disappeared 50 years ago
Science

In final hours before landfall, Hurricane Idalia stopped intensifying and turned from Tallahassee

In the final hours before Hurricane Idalia struck Florida the storm had grown into a Category 4 beast lurking off the state’s west coast, and the forecast called for it to continue intensifying up until landfall. An Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft had recorded winds up to 130 mph (215 kph), the National Hurricane Center said in an ominous bulletin at 6 a.m. Wednesday. As the sun rose an hour later, however, there was evidence the hurricane began replacing the wall around its eye — a phenomenon that experts say kept it from further intensifying. Maximum

In final hours before landfall, Hurricane Idalia stopped intensifying and turned from Tallahassee
Science

Scientists say study found a direct link between greenhouse gas emissions and polar bear survival

Fifteen years after polar bears were listed as threatened, a new study says researchers have overcome a roadblock in the Endangered Species Act that prevented the federal government from considering climate change when evaluating impacts of projects such as oil and gas drilling. The act requires agencies to ensure projects they approve don’t further harm listed species. But a 2008 Department of Interior legal opinion said greenhouse gas emissions didn’t have to be considered because the impact from specific projects couldn’t be distinguished from that of all historic global emissions. A study published Thursday in Science’s Policy Forum says scientists

Scientists say study found a direct link between greenhouse gas emissions and polar bear survival
Science

Japan's PM visits fish market, vows to help fisheries hit by China ban over Fukushima water release

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida sampled seafood and talked to workers at Tokyo’s Toyosu fish market Thursday to assess the impact of China’s ban on Japanese seafood in reaction to the release of treated radioactive wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi plant to the sea. The release of the treated wastewater began last week and is expected to continue for decades. Japanese fishing groups and neighboring countries opposed it, and China immediately banned all imports of Japanese seafood in response. One of the seafood business operators told Kishida that sales of his scallops, which are largely exported

Japan's PM visits fish market, vows to help fisheries hit by China ban over Fukushima water release
Science

Mexican Navy hopes to expand net-snagging hooks to protect endangered vaquita porpoises

Mexico’s Navy said Wednesday it is planning to expand the area where it sinks concrete blocks topped with metal hooks to snag gill nets that are killing vaquita marina porpoises. The Navy began dropping the blocks into the Gulf of California last year, in hopes it may help save the world’s most endangered marine mammal. The vaquita lives only in the Gulf, also known as the Sea of Cortez, where as few as ten vaquitas remain. They cannot be held or bred in captivity. The vaquitas are caught and drown in illegal gill nets set

Mexican Navy hopes to expand net-snagging hooks to protect endangered vaquita porpoises
Science

West Point time capsule that appeared to contain nothing more than silt yields centuries-old coins

A nearly 200-year-old West Point time capsule that appeared to yield little more than dust when it was opened during a disappointing livestream contained hidden treasure after all, the U.S. Military Academy said Wednesday. It was just more hidden than expected. The lead box believed to have been placed by cadets in the base of a monument actually contained six silver American coins dating from 1795 to 1828 and a commemorative medal, West Point said in a news release. All were discovered in the sediment of the box, which at Monday’s ceremonial opening at the New York academy appeared to

West Point time capsule that appeared to contain nothing more than silt yields centuries-old coins
Science

Live updates | Hurricane Idalia set to hit Florida as Category 4 storm

Follow live updates about Hurricane Idalia, which has strengthened to a Category 4 storm as it steams toward Florida, threatening to unleash life-threatening storm surges and rainfall. What to know — Feeding on some of the hottest water on the planet, Hurricane Idalia is rapidly strengthening as it bears down on Florida. — A rare blue supermoon could play a role in an unfolding disaster as Hurricane Idalia takes aim at Florida’s west coast. — Florida’s Big Bend is one of the last truly natural places in the state. Now it’s in the bull’s-eye of

Live updates | Hurricane Idalia set to hit Florida as Category 4 storm
Science

Typhoon Saola strengthens as it passes Taiwan on its way to China

Typhoon Saola strengthened overnight as it continued its path across the Pacific early Wednesday and headed for China’s southern coast. The typhoon was moving northwest with sustained winds of 191 kph (118 mph) and gusts of up to 234 kph (145 mph), according to Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau, and is now considered a strong typhoon. The typhoon’s eye won’t hit Taiwan’s mainland, but the storm’s outer bands will hit the island’s southern cities. The weather bureau also warned of heavy rain and strong winds in Taiwan’s southern cities, especially southern Pingtung county. The typhoon is currently

Typhoon Saola strengthens as it passes Taiwan on its way to China
Science

India's moon rover confirms sulfur and detects several other elements near the lunar south pole

India’s moon rover confirmed the presence of sulfur and detected several other elements near the lunar south pole as it searches for signs of frozen water nearly a week after its historic moon landing, India’s space agency said Tuesday. The rover’s laser-induced spectroscope instrument also detected aluminum, iron, calcium, chromium, titanium, manganese, oxygen and silicon on the lunar surface, the Indian Space Research Organization, or ISRO, said in a post on its website. The lunar rover had come down a ramp from the lander of India’s spacecraft after last Wednesday’s touch-down near the moon’s south pole.

India's moon rover confirms sulfur and detects several other elements near the lunar south pole
Science

A new Titanic expedition is planned. The US is fighting it, says wreck is a grave site

The U.S. government is trying to stop a planned expedition to recover items of historical interest from the sunken Titanic, citing a federal law and an international agreement that treat the shipwreck as a hallowed gravesite. The expedition is being organized by RMS Titanic Inc., the Georgia-based firm that owns the salvage rights to the world’s most famous shipwreck. The company exhibits artifacts that have been recovered from the wreck site at the bottom of the North Atlantic, from silverware to a piece of the Titanic’s hull. The government’s challenge comes more than two months after

A new Titanic expedition is planned. The US is fighting it, says wreck is a grave site
Science

Supermoon could team up with Hurricane Idalia to raise tides higher just as the storm makes landfall

A rare blue supermoon could raise tides above normal just as Hurricane Idalia takes aim at Florida’s west coast, exacerbating flooding from the storm. The moon will be closest to the Earth on Wednesday night, the same day Idalia is expected to make landfall in Florida. While a supermoon can make for a spectacular backdrop in photos of landmarks around the world, its intensified gravitational pull also makes tides higher. “I would say the timing is pretty bad for this one,” said Brian Haines, the meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service office in Charleston, South Carolina. It’s expected

Supermoon could team up with Hurricane Idalia to raise tides higher just as the storm makes landfall
Science

Native nations on front lines of climate change share knowledge and find support at intensive camps

Jeanette Kiokun, the tribal clerk for the Qutekcak Native Tribe in Alaska, doesn’t immediately recognize the shriveled, brown plant she finds on the shore of the Salish Sea or others that were sunburned during the long, hot summer. But a fellow student at a weeklong tribal climate camp does. They are rosehips, traditionally used in teas and baths by the Skokomish Indian Tribe in Washington state and other tribes. “It’s getting too hot, too quick,” Alisa Smith Woodruff, a member of the Skokomish tribe, said of the sun-damaged plant. Tribes suffer some of the most

Native nations on front lines of climate change share knowledge and find support at intensive camps
Science

Neurosurgeon investigating patient's mystery symptoms plucks a worm from woman's brain in Australia

A neurosurgeon investigating a woman’s mystery symptoms in an Australian hospital says she plucked a wriggling worm from the patient’s brain. Surgeon Hari Priya Bandi was performing a biopsy through a hole in the 64-year-old patient’s skull at Canberra Hospital last year when she used forceps to pull out the parasite, which measured 8 centimeters, or 3 inches. “I just thought: ‘What is that? It doesn’t make any sense. But it’s alive and moving,’” Bandi was quoted Tuesday in The Canberra Times newspaper. “It continued to move with vigor. We all felt a bit sick,” Bandi

Neurosurgeon investigating patient's mystery symptoms plucks a worm from woman's brain in Australia
Science

Japan asks China to urge citizens to halt harassment after start of Fukushima wastewater release

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida asked China on Monday to urge its citizens to halt acts of harassment, including crank calls and stone throwing at Japanese diplomatic facilities and schools, in response to Japan’s release of treated radioactive wastewater from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant. “I must say it is regrettable,” Kishida said. He said Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Masataka Okano summoned China’s ambassador, Wu Jianghao, to ask that Chinese people act calmly and responsibly. The release of the treated wastewater into the ocean, which began Thursday and is expected to continue for decades, has

Japan asks China to urge citizens to halt harassment after start of Fukushima wastewater release
Science

Women working in Antarctica say they were left to fend for themselves against sexual harassers

The howling winds and perpetual darkness of the Antarctic winter were easing to a frozen spring when mechanic Liz Monahon at McMurdo Station grabbed a hammer. If those in charge weren’t going to protect her from the man she feared would kill her, she figured, she needed to protect herself. It wasn’t like she could escape. They were all stuck there together on the ice. So she kept the hammer with her at all times, either looped into her Carhartt overalls or tucked into her sports bra. “If he came anywhere near me, I was

Women working in Antarctica say they were left to fend for themselves against sexual harassers
Science

Takeaways from AP's investigation into sexual harassment and assault at Antarctica's McMurdo Station

Many women who work at McMurdo Station, the main United States research base in Antarctica, say the isolated environment and macho culture have allowed sexual harassment and assault to flourish. The National Science Foundation, which oversees the U.S. Antarctic Program, published a report in 2022 in which 59% of women said they’d experienced harassment or assault while on the ice. But the problem goes beyond the harassment itself, The Associated Press found. In reviewing court records and internal communications, and in interviews with more than a dozen current and former employees, the AP uncovered a

Takeaways from AP's investigation into sexual harassment and assault at Antarctica's McMurdo Station
Science

At Fukushima Daiichi, decommissioning the nuclear plant is far more challenging than water release

For the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, managing the ever-growing volume of radioactive wastewater held in more than 1,000 tanks has been a safety risk and a burden since the meltdown in March 2011. Its release marks a milestone for the decommissioning, which is expected to take decades. But it’s just the beginning of the challenges ahead, such as the removal of the fatally radioactive melted fuel debris that remains in the three damaged reactors, a daunting task if ever accomplished. Here’s a look at what’s going on with the plant’s decommissioning: WHAT HAPPENED AT FUKUSHIMA

At Fukushima Daiichi, decommissioning the nuclear plant is far more challenging than water release

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