New chemical compound in atmosphere inducing global warming, heart disease and respiratory illness announced:
'We can now show, through direct observation, that these compounds actually form in the atmosphere, that they are surprisingly stable and that they are formed from almost all chemical compounds,' said Jing Chen, a PhD student at the Department of Chemistry and second author of the study.
'All speculation must now be put to rest.'
The research team claims that the hydrotrioxides are likely to be able to penetrate into tiny airborne particles, known as aerosols, which pose a health hazard and can lead to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.
'They will most likely enter aerosols, where they will form new compounds with new effects,' said Prof Kjærgaard.
'It is easy to imagine that new substances are formed in the aerosols that are harmful if inhaled. But further investigation is required to address these potential health effects (Dailymail.co.uk)’.
An obvious question is of course whether there is an increased emergence of these compounds, or if we’re dealing with an observation of what was always there. Especially since the organic peroxy radicals at the base of this reaction are generated from the oxidation of any hydrocarbons whatsoever, and not only combustion of fossil fuels (Bernd, Chen & Kjærgaard et al. (2022). “Hydrotrioxide (ROOOH) formation in the atmosphere.” Science, Vol 376,Issue 6596. DOI: 10.1126/science.abn6012).
The jury also seems to be out regarding the extent to which combustion generates said organic peroxy radical (Goldman, Green & Kroll (2021). “Chemistry of Simple Organic Peroxy Radicals under Atmospheric through Combustion Conditions: Role of Temperature, Pressure, and NOx Level”. J. Phys. Chem. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.1c07203).
A comment on the DailyMail article remarks:
Gaslighting people again. You know whats really causing this even if millions of you are in denial. Wait until you find out all the elites were given saline.
Not much on Google News yet though.
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UK introduces temporary “windfall tax” on 25% of oil & gas profits
Boris Johnson’s government will impose a windfall tax on the profits of oil and gas companies, bowing to mounting pressure to support Britons facing a record squeeze on living standards.
The 25% levy on energy firms will raise about £5 billion ($6.3 billion) to finance one-off grants of £650 to more than 8 million of the poorest households in the UK, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said in the House of Commons on Thursday. Sunak did not rule out applying a similar levy to power generators, but said more work needs to be done on the idea (bloomberg.com).
Gato has covered this extensively already, but it’s worth mentioning, since it’s a pretty peculiar move. On the face of it, the UK will add another 25% tax on the profits of North Sea energy producers such as BP or EnQuest with the purpose of redistributing the levied funds among consumers to offset inflation.
The problem is that this won’t just disincentivize the expansion of production in the North Sea in the long term, but will immediately threaten to drop the current levels. The North Sea oil represents about 4% of global petroleum production, but since we’re on the margins, and since North Sea oil has a relatively high EROEI, this could quickly exacerbate the current upward pressure on oil prices.
In other words, it’s a rather inept short-term fix in terms of inflation, so I’m wondering what the idea is. Of course, it could be just mismanagement and good old stupidity at work, but I think it’s prudent to assume that major institutions rarely act out of pure ignorance.
Of course, this could yet be overturned or amended in parliament.
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Biometric ID could save lives in wake of the Uvalde shooting
The shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Tex., has ramped up the debate around gun violence to its usual partisan levels, setting Democrats and Republicans on familiar sides of the gun legislation divide.
Yet what if the solution isn’t legislative but technological — by making sure the person had the right to fire that gun? It wouldn’t have prevented Uvalde, where the 18-year-old shooter bought firearms legally. It could, however, stop a school shooting where an underage person illegally gained access to a weapon. And by limiting teen access to guns, it could slow a huge wave of suicides (Washington Post).
Same argument in the Texas Standard:
So while we are not suggesting that we should strip people of their Second Amendment rights, we are suggesting that there are ways to make sure guns are in the hands of people who are responsible and not within the hands of of young kids. One of those, of course, would be biometric locks on guns, which would keep those guns inoperable when kids are in possession of them. And then other common-sense gun reforms where we can close those gun ownership or gun purchase loopholes and make sure that they are not in the hands of those who have mental illness or a history of problematic behavior.
And in the Johns Hopkins Magazine:
Making schools safer requires policymakers to address how young people access firearms. This can be achieved with biometric fingerprint locks for firearms and other gun permit requirements.
The Detroit News reports on the city’s experiments with AI surveillance, true to its RoboCop heritage:
Security cameras inside Oxford High School captured alleged gunman Ethan Crumbley holding an exposed gun as he walked down a school hallway on Nov. 30 in search of victims.
But the Michigan school did not have the technology in place to immediately alert school officials and police to what the security cameras were seeing.
Since April, however, it has been testing an artificial intelligence-based gun detection software. Paired with existing surveillance cameras inside and outside the school, and monitored by former military personnel, the system can alert authorities to the presence of a gun carried in plain sight within seconds.
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George Soros states that “civilization won’t survive Putin’s war”
It’s widely reported that Soros at a WEF event has argued that civilization won’t survive the incomprehensible and unprovoked aggression of the deplorable Russian “regime”:
Billionaire George Soros warned that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has rattled Europe and could be the start of another world war.
“Other issues that concern all of humanity—fighting pandemics and climate change, avoiding nuclear war, maintaining global institutions—have had to take a back seat to that struggle,” Soros, 91, said Tuesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “That’s why I say our civilization may not survive.”
Soros, a Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor, focused his speech on the rise of the “repressive regimes” of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, calling the two countries the “greatest threat to open society.” His philanthropic organization of that name, Open Society Foundations, funds groups promoting justice, democracy, human rights and progressive politics (Fortune).
Pretty strong words in every respect. No wonder people sincerely believe in the threat of a Russian Fourth Reich steamrolling over Europe (with their octogenarian cast-iron tanks and infantry platoons drafted from retirement homes).
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Oh yeah, and this is rich. My Windows 10 propaganda bar informs me that Russia THREATS the rest of the world after the US’ “promise” (to push long-range rocket systems into Ukrainian territory, immediately threatening Russian assets and major population centres):
The anchor on a Kremlin propaganda TV channel warned of a "harsh response" from Russia if the U.S. steps up the supply to Ukraine of advanced, long-range rocket systems.
Olga Skabeyeva, the host of 60 Minutes, made the comments during a broadcast on the Russia-1 channel, which pushes the Kremlin narrative of its invasion of Ukraine and is the forum for regular threats and conspiracy theories against Western countries.
She referred to how the U.S. presidential administration was looking into whether to supply Ukraine with weapons such as Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS) as soon as next week (Newsweek).
And lots of people make these little angry emoji faces. They REALLY want escalation here.
But “octogenarian” is not a meaningful description of Russian tanks. In reality Russian tanks are both more effective and more sophisticated than any in the west. And this is true of essentially all weapons systems.
Russia has within itself all of the necessary resources and all of the technology to do whatever it wants. Does it want to occupy and control Europe? Hell no. But if Europe/US continue present course (hostility to Russia), Russia will do again what’s it’s done before: hand the collective west its ass.
Continue down this highway to hell and the beat down will come, as it did in 1721, 1812, and 1945.
At this point one can reasonably ask whether it’s better to just hurry up and get it over with. The sooner the better.
The Russians know that the military equipment being supplied to Ukraine by NATO is junk. The US in particular is getting cold feet; another defeat so quickly in the footsteps of Afghanistan withdrawl would look really bad. The world's one remaining superpower might not look so super or so powerful after all. After all, it still needs to keep its powder dry to confront China! LOL