Sep 14, 2024 | Salon.com
Sharing the name of a legendary dwarf in J. R. R. Tolkien’s classic fantasy novel “The Hobbit,” a Neanderthal now known as Thorin wandered the Earth up to 42,000 years ago. Now a new study in the journal Cell Genomics reveals that Thorin probably lived a very isolated life … one that seemingly included lots of inbreeding....
Originally posted on salon.com
Sep 12, 2024 | Salon.com
Scientists overwhelmingly agree that as humans continue burning fossil fuels, our collective emissions of greenhouse gases are unnaturally warming the planet. If this trend is not quickly stopped (and, if possible, reversed), humans will face existential threats including deadly heat waves, wildfires, droughts, floods and extreme storms.
During Tuesday’s presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, only Harris acknowledged these scientific facts....
Originally posted on salon.com
Sep 12, 2024 | Salon.com
Typhoon Yagi, the strongest tropical storm to impact Asia so far in 2024, has triggered landslides and flash floods that have killed at least 226 people, as reported by Reuters. More than 100 additional people remain missing, while roughly 800 were injured.
Casualties surged this week after a flash food caused by the typhoon on Tuesday wiped out the entire hamlet of Lang Nu in northern Vietnam’s Lao Cai province....
Originally posted on salon.com
Sep 12, 2024 | Salon.com
A new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association Network adds to the evidence that, if you are a young Indigenous person in America, the health care system is far more likely to fail you if you get sick with cancer.
To learn this, researchers analyzed cancer statistics for more than 290,000 patients between the ages of 15 and 39 from 2004 to 2017....
Originally posted on salon.com
Sep 12, 2024 | Salon.com
A new study in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives reveals that a number of widely-used skin care products, such as lotions and sunscreens, contain dangerous industrial chemicals known as phthalates. When these phthalates enter the human body, they have been linked to serious health issues such as asthma, allergies and cancers....
Originally posted on salon.com
Sep 10, 2024 | Salon.com
President Biden’s administration announced on Friday that it has selected more than 100 miles of boundaries to encompass a new protected marine sanctuary along the California coast. The so-called Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary will be the first national marine sanctuary ever proposed by an Indigenous tribe.
“This is a huge moment for the Chumash People and all who have tirelessly supported our campaign over the years,” Violet Sage Walker, chairwoman of the tribal council, told Mercury News on Friday....
Originally posted on salon.com
Sep 10, 2024 | Salon.com
The effects of climate change are being felt more and more each year. The increased heat is making everything more wet, which may seem counterintuitive at first, because heat waves are usually associated with dryness. But the more heat is in the air, the more moisture can actually be present. This is why rainfall has become so much more intense in some areas, with precipitation in the U.S....
Originally posted on salon.com
Sep 8, 2024 | Salon.com
When Joe Biden repeatedly stammered, slurred, babbled and stared off into space during the first 2024 presidential debate, America’s 46th president made history in a way he never intended. Because of his abysmal performance, June 27, 2024 will be remembered as the date when a failed debate set in motion a chain of events culminating in a sitting president withdrawing his reelection campaign....
Originally posted on salon.com
Sep 7, 2024 | Salon.com
For the second summer in a row, global temperatures broke temperature records, according to the European climate service Copernicus, putting this year on track to be the hottest in recorded history. Specifically, summer 2024 was 0.69 degrees Celsius hotter than the 1991 to 2020 average and was, additionally, 0.03 degrees hotter than summer 2023’s record-setting temperatures....
Originally posted on salon.com
Sep 6, 2024 | Salon.com
The term “bureaucrat” has held a negative connotation pretty much since it was invented, especially when applied to governments. Described by Irish novelist Lady Morgan as “office tyranny” in 1818, bureaucracies have been widely loathed ever since, from the literature of Franz Kafka to a catchy animated song in “Futurama.”
Government bureaucrats are often depicted as wasteful and inefficient bleeding hearts with secret, sinister and sometimes “socialist” agendas....
Originally posted on salon.com