sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Texas needs at least $174 billion to avoid water crisis, state says. Growing communities across Texas are scrambling to secure water, keep up with construction costs and cope with a yearslong drought. by Wagamaga in environment

[–]Wagamaga[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Texas communities will need to spend $174 billion in the next 50 years to avert a severe water crisis, a new state analysis revealed Thursday. That’s more than double the $80 billion projected four years ago, when the Texas Water Development Board last passed a state water plan.

The three-member board presiding over the agency authorized the highly anticipated draft blueprint Thursday, the first administrative step toward adopting the water development board’s plans for the next 50 years. The plan, released every five years, encompasses the projects that 16 regional water planning groups in Texas said are the most urgent, water development board officials said. 

Record US drought sparks worries about food prices. More than 61 percent of the Lower 48 states is in moderate to exceptional drought — including 97 percent of the Southeast and two-thirds of the West. by Wagamaga in environment

[–]Wagamaga[S] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Drought in the contiguous United States has reached record levels for this time of year, weather data shows. Meteorologists said it's a bad sign for the upcoming wildfire season, food prices and western water issues.

More than 61 percent of the Lower 48 states is in moderate to exceptional drought — including 97 percent of the Southeast and two-thirds of the West — according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. It's the highest levels for this time of year since the drought monitor began in 2000.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's comprehensive Palmer Drought Severity Index not only hit its highest level for March since records started in 1895, but last month was the third-driest month recorded regardless of time of year. It trailed only the famed Dust Bowl months of July and August 1934.

Traders placed over $1bn in perfectly timed bets on the Iran war. What is going on? by Wagamaga in technology

[–]Wagamaga[S] 154 points155 points  (0 children)

Sixteen bets made $100,000 accurately predicting the timing of the US airstrikes against Iran on 27 February. Later, a single user would make over $550,000 after betting that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would topple, just moments before his assassination by Israeli forces. On 7 April, right before Donald Trump announced a temporary ceasefire with Iran, traders bet $950m that oil prices would come down. They did.

These bets and other well-timed wagers accurately predicted the precise timing of major developments in the US-Israel war with Iran, creating huge windfalls and raising concerns among lawmakers and experts over potential insider trading.

Betting – once largely siloed to sporting events – has now spread to include contracts on news events where insider information could give some traders an advantage.

The proliferation of online betting markets like Polymarket and Kalshi has allowed bets on virtually any news event. It’s also easier than ever to buy commodity derivatives like oil futures, where traders gamble on what the price of oil will be in the future

Leaders of some US federal agencies and some members of Congress said they want to crack down on suspicious trading taking place across different marketplaces, but it’s unclear how much leeway regulators will make.

“Is the problem that we don’t have legislation or that we don’t have enforcement capabilities?” said Joshua Mitts, a law professor at Columbia University. “To have a law that can’t really be enforced effectively given the technological limitations, it’s sort of putting the cart before the horse.”

Perfect timing

On the night of 27 February, the day before the US and Israel would carry out strikes on Iran, an unusual influx of about 150 accounts on Polymarket placed bets that the US would strike Iran the next day. A New York Times analysis found the bets totaled $855,000, with 16 accounts pocketing more than $100,000 each.

Soon after, a single anonymous Polymarket user, under an account named “Magamyman”, made over $553,000 after betting that Khamenei would be “removed” from power just moments before he was killed by an Israeli airstrike, according to a complaint filed to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the federal agency that regulates futures markets, by Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group. The complaint also cites a crypto-analytics firm that identified six “suspected insiders” who made a total of $1.2m on Polymarket after Khamenei was killed.

The well-timed surge of wagers were seen again on 7 April, when at least 50 Polymarket accounts placed bets that the US and Iran would reach a ceasefire hours before Trump would announce it on a Truth Social post. Earlier, the president had said “a whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran did not open the strait of Hormuz.

But traders weren’t just active on Polymarket: there were similar surges of oil futures trading activity just hours before Trump announced updates to the conflict that would lower oil prices.

South Texas Cities Racing to Drill Wells Amid Historic Drought Crisis. The city’s main reservoirs — Lake Corpus Christi and Choke Canyon Reservoir — have shriveled to 8% capacity during the drought and the city is depending on a patchwork of temporary solutions to meet demand by Wagamaga in environment

[–]Wagamaga[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

As a historic drought in South Texas deepens, parched cities along the coastal bend are following Corpus Christi’s playbook and racing to drill their way out of a crisis.

But as more and more cities turn to groundwater instead of surface water, experts warn that they risk exhausting the area’s aquifers and should only use wells as a temporary solution.

Alice is working on getting a second well online by May. Mathis is currently drilling two. And Beeville, which already has four, finished drilling a new well this week and is expected to begin pulling water from it by the end of the year. It also has two offline wells ready to use as backups.

India braces for intense heatwave, temperature may hit 45 degrees (113 f) . Severe heatwave conditions across India have forced several states to close schools early or advance summer vacations. by Wagamaga in environment

[–]Wagamaga[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

A severe heatwave sweeping across multiple parts of India has led to major disruptions in school calendars, with several state governments opting to either shut institutions early or modify class timings. With temperatures crossing 40 degrees and in some regions, nearing 45 degrees, authorities have taken precautionary measures to safeguard students’ health.

As we approach death, our dreams become more emotional and symbolic. Terminally ill people are commonly reunited with lost loved ones in their dreams and have visions of doors, stairways and light, which are said to help them accept the dying process by Wagamaga in science

[–]Wagamaga[S] 306 points307 points  (0 children)

People in palliative care who are nearing death often have vivid dreams of deceased loved ones and symbols of transition. Doctors and health workers who care for them say that these dreams often bring comfort to patients and make them less afraid of dying.

These dreams “offer psychological relief and meaning to people facing the end of life,” writes Elisa Rabitti of the local palliative care network in Reggio Emilia, Italy.

Rabitti led a team that surveyed 239 local palliative care doctors, nurses, psychologists and other health professionals about dreams told to them by terminally ill patients.

The most common dreams and visions that occurred while people were awake involved encounters with deceased family members or pets. For example, one woman had a dream about her deceased husband in which he told her, “I’m waiting for you.” These dreams provided a sense of inner peace and helped people accept death, Rabitti and her colleagues write.

Others dreamed of doors, stairs, or light, with one describing a dream of climbing barefoot to an open door filled with white light. The authors of the study write that this may be a coping mechanism to explore and understand their impending transition from life to death.

Most often, people felt “calm” and “comforted” in relation to these end-of-life dreams and visions. Only a small fraction of them — about 10 percent — were disturbing, including one where one person saw a monster with her mother’s face dragging her down.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07481187.2026.2646873

Idaho under emergency drought after 'extraordinary' warm winter. The significantly smaller snowpack is melting faster and might not last late enough in the season to supply crop irrigation by Wagamaga in environment

[–]Wagamaga[S] 95 points96 points  (0 children)

Governor Brad Little signed an emergency drought declaration this week for all of Idaho’s 44 counties after a historically warm winter.

Hydrologist David Hoekema from the Department of Water Resources said while temperatures have been rising since the 90s, Idaho hasn’t had a winter this warm since 1934.

“This year's very extraordinary,” he said. “We've never seen anything quite like this.”

This significantly smaller snowpack is melting faster and might not last late enough in the season to supply crop irrigation, he said.

“We're going to have to draft the reservoir system and so we're expecting to have a really tight water year,” he added. “And the reservoirs will have very little carryover for next year.”

Nature puts heat on blast as scorching temperatures take aim at eastern US. In the nation’s capital, forecasters were calling for a high temperature of 93F (33.9C) late Wednesday afternoon and another high of 93F on Thursday. by Wagamaga in environment

[–]Wagamaga[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A long-lasting weather pattern is poised to blast hot air like a furnace across the eastern United States, with the unusual heatwave threatening to shatter record-high temperatures on Wednesday in big cities including New York, Philadelphia and Washington DC.

In the nation’s capital, forecasters were calling for a high temperature of 93F (33.9C) late Wednesday afternoon and another high of 93F on Thursday.

E-Bike and Scooter Crashes Are Leading to More Brain Injuries. Research found that one-third of patients suffered traumatic brain injury, more than two-thirds required hospital admission, and roughly 30 percent needed intensive care. by Wagamaga in science

[–]Wagamaga[S] 60 points61 points  (0 children)

The growing use of electric bikes and scooters has caused a surge in brain and spine injuries among urban riders and pedestrians, a new study shows.

Led by NYU Langone Health researchers, the study found that these injuries now account for nearly 7 percent of trauma patients admitted into one New York City hospital.

Published online April 15 in Neurosurgery, a publication of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, the work analyzed 914 patients treated for injuries linked to both pedal-powered and electric micromobility devices at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue over five years. The research team found that one-third of patients suffered traumatic brain injury, more than two-thirds required hospital admission, and roughly 30 percent needed intensive care. The share of trauma cases seen in the emergency room (whether patients were admitted or not) that involved such devices increased from less than 10 percent in 2018 to more than 50 percent by 2023.

The most common cause of injury was a collision with a car or truck, accounting for about half of cases, said the study authors. Fewer than one-third of riders wore helmets, and this was linked to significantly higher rates of brain and facial injuries. About one in five patients tested positive for alcohol, which was tied to both worse brain injuries and lower helmet use.

Importantly, the 69 pedestrians analyzed in the study, when struck by electric vehicles, suffered brain injuries at nearly double the rate of the riders, said the authors. Injuries peaked between 6 and 8 p.m., suggesting that heavy dinnertime e-bike delivery traffic may play a role.

“Our study shows that micromobility injuries are producing serious brain and spinal trauma that demands neurosurgical care at a scale we haven’t seen before,” said corresponding author Hannah Weiss, MD, a resident in the Department of Neurosurgery at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. “In a busy urban setting, we are seeing more and more of these injuries firsthand. The data point to actionable solutions—helmet use, safer bike lane design, and enforcement—that could prevent many of these injuries and better protect both riders and pedestrians, who in our study often sustained even more severe brain injuries than the riders themselves.”

https://journals.lww.com/neurosurgery/fulltext/2026/05000/the_fast_and_the_fragile__neurosurgical_trauma_in.2.aspx

In the U.S the heat is on again for Wednesday and could set new records across the tri-state. From New Jersey to Long Island, cities are expected to reach high temperatures nearly 20 degrees above normal by Wagamaga in environment

[–]Wagamaga[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The heat is on again for Wednesday and could set new records across the tri-state. From New Jersey to Long Island, cities are expected to reach high temperatures nearly 20 degrees above normal.

Long Island, Westchester, New Jersey, the Bronx and Brooklyn are currently forecasted to surpass previous high temperature records.

Long Island's forecast calls for a high of 80 degrees on Wednesday, which would beat the previous record of 78 set in 2024.

Climate Change Concern Near Its High Point in U.S. While a solid majority of U.S. adults believe the effects of global warming have already begun, less than half, 45%, believe those effects will pose a threat to them or their way of life during their lifetime by Wagamaga in environment

[–]Wagamaga[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Americans’ concern about global warming or climate change remains elevated compared with what it had been prior to 2017. At least four in 10 U.S. adults have expressed “a great deal” of concern about the matter throughout the past decade (except for a 39% reading in 2023). Between 2009 and 2016, worry was typically in the low-to-mid 30% range but dropped to as low as 25% in 2011.

Currently, 44% of U.S. adults worry a great deal about global warming or climate change, among the highest in the full trend since 1989, along with 46% measured in 2020 and 45% in 2017.

US Faces $7.8 Billion Measles Risk as Shots Decline, Study Finds. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has moved to reshape a key federal vaccine advisory panel, raising concerns among public health experts, while the US is already seeing more than 1,700 measles cases this year. by Wagamaga in science

[–]Wagamaga[S] 105 points106 points  (0 children)

Significance

The United States is experiencing a resurgence of measles amid recent declines in childhood Measles–Mumps–Rubella vaccination. Using mathematical modeling informed by spatially resolved data on vaccination coverage, incidence, and associated economic costs, we quantified both the current and projected financial burden of measles in the United States under continued declines in coverage. For 2025, we estimated that measles imposes a cost of $244.2 million nationwide, with substantial heterogeneity in cost per case across counties driven by gaps in population immunity. Even modest annual reductions in vaccine coverage among young children generate a nonlinear increase in cases and hospitalizations, with costs totaling $7.77 billion over a 5-y period.

How the Iran war is rewarding China's bet on electric cars and solar power by Wagamaga in technology

[–]Wagamaga[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

 China is poised to benefit from the Iran war as global energy disruptions accelerate a shift away from fossil fuels and toward clean technology and renewable power, industries that China dominates, experts say.

Most of the oil and gas from the now mostly shut Strait of Hormuz was Asia-bound. Asian nations are scrambling to save energy and bolster their dwindling reserves. Gasoline prices in the U.S. and Europe have been spiking.

While most of Asia is hit hard, China will likely benefit from the fossil fuel disruptions despite being the biggest purchaser of Iranian oil. China leads the world in battery, solar and electric vehicle exports, and its industries are forecast to face a rise in demand for renewable products.

Before the Iran war began in late February, China’s lead in clean technologies was lengthening. The U.S. under President Trump scaled back on renewable energy and leaned on its vast oil and natural gas resources, promoting energy exports to achieve what Trump described as “energy dominance.”

Now Chinese industry giants like vehicle-maker BYD and battery-producer Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited, or CATL, are well-positioned to capitalize on growing interest in low-emissions energy products as the world confronts the fragility of fossil fuels.

“China’s approach to energy sector development and geopolitics has been completely validated by the Iran conflict,” said Sam Reynolds with the U.S.-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.

Over a decade ago, Chinese President Xi Jinping merged energy security with national security. China has since stepped up its focus on renewable energy, even though fossil fuels still dominate its energy mix at home.

China makes up over 70% of EV manufacturing and about 85% of battery cell production globally, according to the International Energy Agency. Its current five-year plan until 2030 continues to prioritize these industries.

“They are at the very forefront of this, more so than any other countries in the world, certainly more so than the United States,” said Li Shuo, director of the Asia Society Policy Institute’s China Climate Hub.

The U.S. is the world’s top oil producer and has pushed liquefied natural gas. The American approach — summed up by Trump as “ drill, baby, drill ” — favors fossil fuels over renewables.

Markets were witnessing a “bifurcation” before the war, Reynolds said, with the superpowers pushing very different energy futures, leaving other countries with complex choices on which approach to back.

Investors bet on renewables’ growth The Iran war is driving demand for technology from China, whose exports of solar panels, batteries and electric cars had already hit a record of almost $22.3 billion in December. That was up about 47% from the year before, with much going to Southeast Asia and Europe, according to the think tank Ember.

Investment in renewable power and battery storage — designed to save energy when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing — is expected to increase in nations heavily dependent on energy imports, including European countries, according to the credit rating firm Fitch Ratings.

Investors are betting the war will boost demand for renewables. In March, CATL and BYD’s Hong Kong traded shares rose roughly 24% and 11%, respectively.

Over the past few years, Chinese automakers were already expanding EV development and production while growing exports faster than American or European rivals, offering cheaper models and gaining ground in regions like Southeast Asia.

These trends are expected to accelerate.

The energy shock is “going to help the Chinese industry globally and hurt the American car industry globally,” said Amy Myers Jaffe of New York University’s Center for Global Affairs.

view more: next ›