Links 01.03.2023 | naked capitalism

China’s Zhurong rover discovers complex layers beneath the surface of Mars space.com

12 exotic bacteria found to passively harvest rare earths from wastewater (press release) NewsWise

Climate

Semiconductor industry: to hell with the environment, start building factories already Register

Green colonialism floods the Pacific Northwest high country news

New results show close-up of melt under Thwaites Glacier Thwaites Glacier and Doomsday Glacier in Antarctica ‘in Trouble’ sky news

How was the forest formed in the area of ​​the Hailuogou Glacier? The soil matters, get the scoop. It is of interest behind one glacier.

#COVID-19

81% of toilet samples from US aircraft contained Omicron RNA. Center for Research and Policy in Infectious Diseases. “Oh, beautiful for the spacious sky, for super-opening planes” [whistles].

Campus-Wide Wastewater Surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 to Combat the COVID-19 Outbreak Water sciences and technologies. From the abstract: “The results were used to create a ‘traffic light’ scheme allowing the Technion’s COVID-19 task force to monitor the spatio-temporal spread of COVID-19 on campus and therefore contain it before a high incidence rate develops.”

Assessing the Impact of One Million COVID-19 Deaths in America: Economic and Life Loss Nature. From the discussion: “These results highlight the unprecedented decline in life expectancy since the 1918 flu pandemic. One million COVID-19 deaths between February 2020 and May 2022 resulted in a 3.08 year decline in life expectancy at birth; at 35 years old by 3.02 years; and at the age of 65 by 2.07 years. These losses have virtually nullified all the gains made over the past 40 years. The reductions for the Hispanic population are twice as large as the reductions for the non-Hispanic white population. The decline in the black population is twice as large as the decline in the Asian population, which had the lowest decline.”

Protection against reinfection with past SARS-CoV-2 infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis Lancet. From the abstract: “Protection against past infection from re-infection with premicron variants was very high and remained high even after 40 weeks. Protection was significantly lower for the BA.1 omicron variant and declined faster over time than protection from previous variants. Protection against severe disease was high for all options.”

China?

China’s industrial output beats forecasts on 10-year growth Al Jazeera

Apple suppliers seek to pull out of China, says AirPods maker Bloomberg

All eyes on how the Chinese leadership will solve the problems of citizens at the upcoming annual meetings Asia Channel News

China raises the profile of international law studies in pursuit of its own global experience South China Morning Post. Does this mean that China will not be building truly global institutions such as ISDS or the World Bank in the near future?

India

Modi government cleared Adani’s coal deals it knew were ‘inappropriate’ Al Jazeera

The Adani Group will repay $790 million in equity-backed loans, the report said. Business Standard

European disconnect

A region that is experimenting with the government with a lottery New European

Dear old Blighty

Inside the secret talks that emerged from the Brexit impasse in Northern Ireland FT

New not-so-cold war

The situation in Bakhmut is “much worse than officially reported,” the Ukrainian military said. CNN

The governor of the region said that a drone crashed in an unsuccessful attack southeast of Moscow Reuters and A new type of kamikaze drone appeared in a Russian city near the border with Ukraine Drive unit

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European anti-war protests gain momentum as NATO proxy war in Ukraine escalates Gray zone. shot:

Pursuer:

Of course, German public opinion is not united.

Kyiv security forces have big problems with the Nazis: former US soldier – RT Al Mayadeen

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Ukraine asks US for 128 F-16s The new voice of Ukraine. It’s a lot.

Zelensky requested an American tank autographed by Shaquille O’Neal Onion

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The talk about Ukraine is bursting at the seams Stephen Walt, foreign policy. Deck: “What government officials say publicly and privately is fascinating and full of contradictions.” But not always:

Maybe in ten years she will be at the front!

Is Russia in danger of collapse? Expert opinions Russia.Mail

Geostrategic competition and the basing of the US, China and Russia abroad Brookings Institution

China’s plan for Ukraine is not a plan at all Diplomat

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Briefing by Lieutenant-General Igor Kirillov, Chief of the Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defense Forces of the RF Armed Forces, on the preparation by the West of large-scale provocations with the use of pesticides in Ukraine telegraph.f video (WITH).

Soils of War: A Toxic Legacy for the Ukrainian Breadbasket Reuters

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European Chess Union: “Shameful day for chess”: Russia officially joins Asia chess

Biden administration

Biden selects Julie Su as next secretary of labor political

White House: No more TikTok on government devices for 30 days AP

FISA setbacks: Biden DOJ push to renew powers draws attention to controversial actions Washington Examiner. FISA

Congress

House panel lays out ‘existential struggle’ with China in primetime debut Hill

US lawmaker introduces bill to limit Fed powers over digital dollars coin telegraph

Supreme

Biden plan to write off student loan gets cold reception from conservative judges SCOTUSblog

U.S. Supreme Court refuses to hear oil companies’ appeal against decision in coastal lawsuit HOW

Our famous free press

New economic engine of culture In the substack

Railway lobbyists pay politicians to advertise train safety Lever News

Technology

Future Fords could confiscate themselves and drive away if you miss payments Drive (LawnDart).

Roald Dahl e-books ‘force censored versions on readers’ despite backlash Time

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Decentralized alternative to Twitter Bluesky is available as an invite-only iOS app edge

Replika users have fallen in love with their AI chatbot companions. Then they lost them ABC Australia

Supply chain

The appearance of cannibal tankers after the Russian-Ukrainian war cargo waves

L’Affaire Geoffrey Epstein

JPMorgan resists efforts to oust Jamie Dimon in Epstein lawsuits FT

zeitgeist watch

Predictors of increased human physical attractiveness: data from 93 countries Evolution and human behavior:

Survey data from 93,158 participants in 93 countries indicate that behaviors such as putting on makeup or other cosmetics, grooming hair, dressing, maintaining bodily hygiene, and exercising or following a certain diet with the specific goal of increasing physical attractiveness, even universal. Indeed, 99% of participants reported spending more than 10 minutes a day on beauty-enhancing activities. The results strongly support evolutionary hypotheses: women spent more time on beauty (on average almost 4 hours a day) than men (3.6 hours a day), the youngest participants (and, contrary to predictions, also the oldest), those , with a relatively more severe history of infectious diseases and members who are currently dating compared to those in established relationships. The strongest predictor of attractiveness-enhancing behavior was social media use.

I’m a guy, 3.6 hours? I’m really lowering the curve!

Imperial crumbling clock

Country of no construction Noahpinion (Re Silc). About the rules specifically allowing:

What matters is not how big the numbers are in America’s spreadsheets, but how many physical things we get. And yet, as a society, we have chosen to reward people with stasis instead of things. In many disadvantaged societies, the government guarantee of economic integration comes in the form of some physical good—usually cheap fuel. In the United States, the in-kind grant we provide to our people is an opportunity to keep their world from changing.

The skyrocketing cost of housing in any city with real economic opportunity, the unsustainable energy transition, and the inexorable migration of manufacturing to more development-friendly countries have become so serious that we must abandon our collective illusion that America will always look like it did in 1975. year. Cutting through the thickets of bureaucracy that hinders development and subordinating local interests to the needs of the nation itself is no longer an idle dream, but an urgent need.

I know plenty of people who would scream with joy if their lives were the same as they were in 1975 and scoff at the idea that their world hasn’t changed (for the worse, I may add). I share the author’s position – the way we build the subway is really funny – but the picture is bigger.

class war

Response to attacks on Payday’s investigations into sexual harassment in the labor movement payday report

Antidote for the dayway):

See yesterday’s links and Antidote du Jour Here.

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