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Daily Archives: October 18, 2021

More than 120,000 US sites feared to handle harmful PFAS ‘forever’ chemicals

The Guardian: “The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has identified more than 120,000 locations around the US where people may be exposed to a class of toxic “forever chemicals” associated with various cancers and other health problems that is a frightening tally four times larger than previously reported, according to data obtained by the Guardian. The list of facilities makes it clear that virtually no part of America appears free from the potential risk of air and water contamination with the chemicals known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Colorado tops the EPA list with an estimated 21,400 facilities, followed by California’s 13,000 sites and Oklahoma with just under 12,000. The facilities on the list represent dozens of industrial sectors, including oil and gas work, mining, chemical manufacturing, plastics, waste management and landfill operations. Airports, fire training facilities and some military-related sites are also included. The EPA describes its list as “facilities in industries that may be handling PFAS”. Most of the facilities are described as “active”, several thousand are listed as “inactive” and many others show no indication of such status. PFAS are often referred to as “forever chemicals” due to their longevity in the environment, thus even sites that are no longer actively discharging pollutants can still be a problem, according to the EPA. The tally far exceeds a previous analysis that showed 29,900 industrial sites known or suspected of making or using the toxic chemicals…”

New Capitol Surveillance Footage Shows A Breach By Jan. 6 Rioters From Start To Finish

BuzzfeedNews: “Two 40-minute videos from Jan. 6 show how hundreds of rioters breached one Capitol entry point and how police eventually regained control…The videos don’t have sound, but they show tense verbal exchanges as the officers make several attempts to stop the mob from getting inside. The confrontations are mostly nonviolent, unlike clashes at other… Continue Reading

This Digital Library Contains Answers to All the Mysteries of the Universe, If You Can Find Them

Lifehacker: “…but within the Library of Babel, every possible permutation of 3200 letters, spaces, and commas and periods is said to be accessible, right now, in one of the library’s “books.” Search literally anything you can think of—cut and paste this paragraph, type in your next as-yet-untweeted tweet, type random gibberish—and you’ll find it already… Continue Reading

Visualizing Undersea Internet Cables

“The Submarine Cable Map is based on the authoritative data found in TeleGeography’s Global Bandwidth Research Service. Search Cables The information presented on the map can be filtered by the following data points: Cable system, e.g. “ARCOS” Country connected by cables, e.g. “France” Known cable landing location, e.g. “Porthcurno” Ready for service year, e.g. “2010”… Continue Reading

CDC unvaxxed people had 6 times the risk of testing positive for COVID

and were more than 11 times more like to die from the virus. “Rates of COVID-19 Cases and Deaths by Vaccination Status. Getting vaccinated for COVID-19 reduces the risk of getting COVID-19 and helps protect you from severe illness even if you do get COVID-19. CDC continues to monitor how well the vaccines are working. So far, studies show that… Continue Reading

A Framework for the 21st-century Natural Resource Manager

chuurman, G. W., C. Hawkins Hoffman, D. N. Cole, D. J. Lawrence, J. M. Morton, D. R. Magness, A. E. Cravens, S. Covington, R. O’Malley, and N. A. Fisichelli. 2020. Resist-accept-direct (RAD) — a framework for the 21st-century natural resource manager. Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/CCRP/NRR—2020/ 2213. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado. An assumption of… Continue Reading