Because of the Great Schism Trend that is rendering Congress dysfunctional and tearing America apart, we are falling further and further behind the other developed nations. It isn’t just China that is leaving us behind, in everything from healthcare, to literacy, to the transition out of the carbon era, we are second or third tier. Nobody in the media talks about this and neither do politicians of either party, but those are facts. The issue for us, in my opinion, is whether the American people want to remain one country.
Aerial view of the second phase of China’s largest renewable energy power base under construction at Tengger Desert in Zhongwei, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of China on Dec. 9, 2023 . Credit: Yuan Hongyan / VCG / Getty I
China is the world leader in renewable energy, including 40 percent of the planet’s entire solar capacity, reported Rystad Energy. The United States comes in second place with 12 percent.
Last year, China installed more new solar capacity than the total amount ever installed in any other country, Bloomberg reported.
“China’s solar sector is set to break records in the coming years. When installed capacity crosses the 500 gigawatts (GW) mark by the end of 2023, it will have taken 13 years to reach that milestone. That total, however, will be doubled to 1 terawatt (TW) in just three additional years,” Rystad Energy said.
According to China’s National Energy Administration (NEA), the country increased its solar capacity by 216.9 GW last year, eclipsing its record of 87.4 GW from the previous year, reported Bloomberg. That’s more than the U.S. total of 175.2 […]
I am seeing more and more reports on measles. If you have an unvaccinated child, or are yourself unvaccinated, I urge you to rectify that. I have had both kinds of measles. Not something I would like to have again, and people die from catching the long form. Also measles are very contagious. Someone who catches measles and comes into contact with someone unvaccinated passes it on. That’s how pandemics begin.
Measles viruses. 3D illustration showing structure of measles virus with surface glycoprotein spikes heamagglutinin-neuraminidase and fusion protein
The United Kingdom is facing a measles outbreak, while cases have also popped up in a few U.S. states in recent weeks, leading to health authorities on both sides of the pond to issue urgent warnings.
The virus, which was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, is a wake-up call for the importance of vaccination to personal and public health. The U.K. only recently reachieved measles elimination status in 2021 after having lost the distinction in 2018.
Unlike COVID-19 vaccines, which help prevent serious illness but don’t prevent infection, the measles vaccine is almost 100 percent effective in preventing infection. And almost everyone who has been recently infected in the U.K. and U.S. is not vaccinated against measles.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday advised health care providers to be alert for potential measles symptoms, which include a rash; cough; sore or swollen eyes; and flu-like symptoms. Providers should also be aware of patients who have recently […]
Ethan Zuckerman, Associate Professor of Public Policy, Information and Communication at the University of Massachusetts - Amherst. - Prospect
Stephan:
Here is a good exegetic essay on the current debate about AI and its effect on humanity. Well-reasoned and detailed but, like the entire AI debate based on materialism. It does not recognize that consciousness is causal and fundamental and that, as Max Planck the founder of quantum mechanics said in 1931, “spacetime arises from consciousness, not consciousness from spacetime.”
Illustration by Vincent Kilbride
Late last year, the technology world was captivated by stories of a fast-moving coup at OpenAI, the organisation that created the program that has provoked so much conversation about the future of artificial intelligence, ChatGPT. At the centre of this boardroom drama—which saw Sam Altman briefly ousted as CEO, only for him to return days later—appeared to be a debate between two rival schools of thought regarding the dangers of AI. It’s worth understanding the terms of this debate, if only to know what questions are dominating discussions within companies developing such transformative technology.
On the board of the nonprofit that owns OpenAI were a number of thinkers who believe AI could lead to the destruction of humanity. Such thinkers are known as “doomers”, and their concerns focus on the risk that advanced AIs could decide to eliminate humanity, either in order to gain more power or prevent further environmental degradation. Opposing the doomers are the accelerationists, who believe the AI-enabled future is one where rapid scientific achievement will help […]
Here is where the Great Schism Trend I have been describing for years now is taking us. I find Marjorie Taylor Greene to be a loathsome person, but she tells me two things. First, she reveals a great deal about the people of Georgia. Who would vote for a person like this? Second, she says out loud and publically, what the Republican leadership says amongst themselves privately when they are together.
MAGAt Republican Representative of Georgia. Credit: Anna Moneymaker / Getty
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene called for a “national divorce” between red and blue states amid the escalating standoff over migration at the Texas border.
The Georgia congressman responded to a post on X listing Democratic-leaning states that have sided with the federal government in the dispute with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
“When I said we need a National Divorce this is exactly what I’m talking about and a serious example as to why,” Greene wrote.
Greene’s national divorce idea is not new — she has often suggested splitting up the United States along political lines— but it is divisive. It has drawn criticism even from fellow Republicans.
The dispute between Abbott and the federal government has been intensifying after the Lone Star state’s governor said he would continue to install razor wire at the border to deter migrants from entering from Mexico.
The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of the federal government this week, saying the US Border […]
For 17 years, cicadas do very little. They hang out in the ground, sucking sugar out of tree roots. Then, following this absurdly long hibernation, they emerge from the ground, sprout wings, make a ton of noise, have sex, and die within a few weeks. Then, their orphan progeny return to the ground and live the next 17 years in silence. Rarer are the 13-year cicadas, which do the same, but in a little more of a hurry — spending just 13 years underground.
Cicadas appear most years on the East Coast of the United States — sometimes ahead of schedule — but it’s a different 17- or 13-year crew that wakes up each time. (There are also, separately, some annual cicadas that emerge every year.)
This year, though, will be a rare event. Two groups — known as “broods” — are waking up during the same season. There will likely be billions, if not trillions, of the insects. According to NPR, the last time these two broods […]
